Pinot Noir from one of California's most captivating AVAs, made by an icon of the region, from a spectacular vintage in the most exciting slice of Santa Barbara.
2023 Ojai Clima Frio Pinot Noir - Limited Quantities
10% off 4+ bottles
The Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley, the two AVAs that lie on the northern edge of Santa Barbara County, are paradoxically the unlikeliest regions for Pinot Noir and now consistently among the most exceptional sources of it. They're both far closer to the equator than almost any European wine region, which should render conditions too hot for the cultivation of cool-climate varieties. But where most valleys run from north to south, the Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley are uniquely oriented east to west, bolstered by the Purisima Hills to the north and Santa Rosa Hills to the south. That orientation acts as a funnel for the cool Pacific fog that draws from the west, the persistent breeze pulling it like a thick blanket over the valley. In the summer, it's far more consistently cool here than in Carneros and Russian River, often allowing the ripening season to extend more than a month longer than almost any other California region. What do you get when you combine a warm spring with consistent sunlight and long, steady ripening throughout the summer? Pinot Noir of unmatched elegance, structure, and balance.
No one has been a bigger advocate for winegrowing in Santa Barbara County, and especially Sta. Rita and Santa Maria, than Adam Tolmach, founder and winemaker of the iconic Ojai Vineyard. While his UC Davis peers looked abroad for their first experiences post-degree, Adam returned to the land his grandfather had settled in the Ojai Valley in 1933, and after two years of nearly profitless work selling corn and melons at roadside stands, threw himself into winegrowing. He founded the legendary Au Bon Climat with the late Jim Clendenen, where they worked together for nearly a decade planting vineyards and cementing themselves as undisputed leaders within the burgeoning Santa Barbara wine scene. When he parted ways with Au Bon Climate in the early 1990s, he committed himself entirely to the Ojai Vineyard, discovering the budding Santa Barbara County, experimenting with new plantings, new vineyards, and developing progressive farming practices like drip irrigation and vertical trellising to improve wine grape quality. As he planted vineyards of his own, he also sought out small vineyards of exceptional quality, sites that expressed the compelling soil composition and growing conditions that make this among the most captivating regions in the state.
Adam recognized the potential of the Sta. Rita Hills early on. He established a long-term contract with Clos Pepe in the mid-1990s, developing a near obsession with the vibrant fruit and bright acidity that the sandy loam soils and especially cool climate the western side of Sta. Rita allows. He later jumped at the invitation to start working with the neighboring vineyard (owned by his son's drum teacher's father-in-law - how's that for kismet?) - the now iconic Kessler-Haak. Similarly, the fossilized, ancient sea bed of the low-lying Santa Maria Valley caught his attention, as did the vineyards he found there, sites that are now among the most coveted in California (Presq'uile, Solomon Hills, and the legendary Bien Nacido). If these valleys already have a long harvest season, the 2023 vintage was that amplified - a cool, balanced ripening throughout the summer, a stretch of mild temperatures through the early fall, a short burst of late season heat, and a harvest that stretched into November. To Adam, it was the perfect inaugural vintage for his Clima Frio Pinot Noir, drawing fruit from the coolest sites in both valleys, highlighting the benefit of the long ripening season. The fruit developed profoundly in 2023 (in Adam's words, "the stuff of winemaker's dreams"), with cool mint and eucalyptus tones melting into fleshy ripe berries and cherry and streaks of citrus and spicebox aromatics. It's a wine full of substance, one that will certainly develop with some time in the cellar. But it's a wine that's a joy to drink now, inviting and bursting with character from the moment you pull the cork.