August 2023

It’s Sunday evening in San Francisco after a beautiful weekend.

Thanks for tuning in to the second-ever VOON newsletter!

Now that our first few wines are bottled and we’ve locked down an incredible pipeline of wine for this upcoming harvest (we’re expanding!), we want to get back to talking about why we love wine so much. And why you should, too.

Shameless self-promotion: If you don’t follow us on instagram yet, please add us @voonwines.

This newsletter is going to recap two social media posts we recently shared, in a little more depth. First, we’ll explain why we love the Sta. Rita Hills so much. Second, we dive into why climate matters for growing wine grapes. The two subjects are closely related.

The Sta. Rita Hills AVA

By now, you’ve heard us talk about how the Sta. Rita Hills AVA (American Viticulture Area) is our favorite wine region in the United States. In fact, right now it’s the only region VOON is making wine from.

The Sta. Rita Hills AVA is located in Santa Barbara County, California right off the Pacific Ocean at the westernmost edge of the Santa Ynez Valley.

Known for its cool, coastal climate and its unique soil types, the Sta. Rita Hills AVA is quickly gaining recognition all over the world as one of the most exciting wine regions in the United States.

Trivia: The Sta. Rita Hills, pronounced “Santa” Rita Hills, had to abbreviate to “Sta.” after protests by a Chilean wine producer in 2006.

The Sta. Rita Hills AVA is sandwiched between by two transverse (east to west) mountain ranges, the Purisima Hills to the north and the Santa Rosa Hills to the south. These mountains formed as the result of tectonic plates colliding millions of years ago.

Soils and sediment formerly on the ocean floor suddenly became the land that we walk on. In the Sta. Rita Hills specifically, the soil consists primarily of diotomaceous earth and limestone, although there are also marine sedimentary rocks and clay.

These marine soils contain very little nutrients and elevated levels of calcium. Poor soils are famously excellent for growing wine grapes… the subject of a future newsletter.

We highly recommend listening to the podcast “Roadside Terroir” by Brenna Quigley, a geologist & wine lover who goes deep into the history of the Santa Barbara wine region.

The transverse mountain ranges also serve as a funnel for airs cooled over the Pacific Ocean directly into the Santa Ynez Valley. In fact, if you ever drive to the Sta. Rita Hills AVA from Santa Barbara you will notice that you’re effectively driving through a wind tunnel as you cross through the mountain pass. These winds dramatically cool what would otherwise be a very warm mediterranean climate.

The Sta. Rita Hills are so cool, in fact, that until relatively recently it was believed that wine grapes could not grow. Richard Sanford and Michael Benedict proved this wrong in 1971 when they planted the first vineyard in the area. This was not an accident. Michael was a botanist who had been searching for a perfect cool climate region that had just enough warmth to ripen grapes.

Over time, the region garnered a reputation for making excellent world-class wines, and was granted AVA status in 2001.

Cool Climate Wines

But why does a cool climate matter so much?

Great wines taste delicious when they have the perfect balance between acid, alcohol, and sugar (which turns into alcohol through fermentation). This “balance” is different for every grape type, but if any aspect is imbalanced, you’ll quickly taste it…

Wine grapes start the growing season with high levels of tartaric acid, malic acid, and a lesser amount of citric acid in each berry. Tartaric acid tastes slightly salty and limey, and hits the very front of your tongue. Malic acid has a smooth, tart taste often synonymous with the flavor of tart green apples, and hits the front portion of your mid-tongue.

As grapes ripen throughout the growing season, these acids convert into sugars. The warmer the weather, the quicker the acids convert to sugar. Cooler climates, particularly diurnal climates, cause grapes to ripen slower and help to preserve their acidity. Acid, particularly the malic acid, directly influences how balanced and refreshing a wine tastes. A longer growing season also allows the grapes to develop more complex flavors in the wines.

Winemakers wait to harvest the grapes to be made into wine until they hit the appropriate pH and / or sugar level, measured in Brix. Sugars will then ferment into alcohol. Wait too long and the grapes will become too ripe; high in sugar and low in acid. As a result, when it is close to harvest time you will find vineyard managers and winemakers in the fields measuring the pH and Brix constantly.

The cool ocean-influenced climate of the Sta. Rita Hills, combined with the low nutrition of the marine soils, grows amazing wine grapes.

Introducing readers like you to lesser-known wine regions that are making world-class wines is one of the raisons d’être for VOON, and we’re incredibly excited to share our Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with you.

Evan