Santa Barbara: Present & Future

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

Santa Barbara remains one of the most fascinating regions in the world. Rich history, a culture of site-specific wines and reasonable pricing make Santa Barbara one of the most exciting and rewarding regions for consumers who want to discover distinctive, high-quality artisan wines that speak of place. I came away from my tastings this past summer more impressed than ever with the region, its producers and a bevy of wines that are truly magnificent.

A view of Ballard Canyon from Rusack

A Bit of Personal Perspective

This is my ninth consecutive vintage reviewing the wines of Santa Barbara. I hadn’t really thought about it all until a few producers pointed it out, while also commenting on the merry-go-round of reviewers at some other publications. But I guess time really does fly.

I first visited Santa Barbara around 2007, during a very different time in my life. I was working at Deutsche Bank and I was in the area to give a presentation at the Bacara Resort. As soon as I got off the plane, I felt it – that unique combination of sunlight, moderate temperature and ocean influence. I was utterly mesmerized. After that, I often ordered Santa Barbara wines in restaurants and started to learn more about the region. In 2010, really by a twist of fate, Bob Parker asked me to take over coverage of California from him at The Wine Advocate. It was the first time Bob had handed over one of his core regions to another reviewer. For my first tasting trip, I replicated Bob’s schedule from the previous year, which seemed sensible. In 2011 my Santa Barbara trip consisted of visiting about four producers and then tasting hundreds of wines in a hotel conference room. Back then, Santa Barbara tastings were lumped into a ‘Central Coast’ report. As soon as I started spending time in Santa Barbara, the Santa Lucia Highlands and Paso Robles, I recognized these areas were distinctive and needed to be covered separately. I also quickly realized I wanted something more, and that was to get closer to the wines, to understand the sites that inform them, and to get to know the people who make them.

These days I spend more than twice that amount of time in Santa Barbara, each and every year, visiting dozens of producers, while the large tastings in the hotel are, thankfully, a thing of the past. In addition to that, I also taste countless samples in my office. The reason I spend so much time with these wines is really very simple: I believe Santa Barbara is one of the premier wine-growing regions in the world. My tastings this past summer only reinforced that view.