Larner Vineyard and Winery

Barchan

n. A sand dune that is crescent-shaped in form as observed from above, found in areas in limited sand supply. Barchans face the wind, appearing convex, produced by wind action from one predominant side. They can move across a desert floor, with their two “horns” facing downwind following the angle of repose dictated by the particular sand type. Barchans typically occur as groups of isolated dunes, yet also may form chains that extend across plains in the prevailing wind direction. As they migrate, occasionally smaller dunes outpace the larger dunes and collide in a fashion similar to waves of light, sound, or water. 

These dunes are not only found on our planet Earth, but have been observed on Mars where the thin atmosphere produces winds strong enough to move sands. In essence these dunes voyaging across a desolate landscape, represent a celestial beauty. Proof Mother nature chooses many forms of artwork whilst painting our landscape. Similar to the beauty found in rolling hills of the Ballard Canyon AVA, where predominate daily westerly winds cool down the grape growing region to ensure optimal diurnal temperature swings to ensure ripeness without sacrificing acidity, color, and flavor.

While our estate vineyard is banded with layers of sand, sometimes six feet deep, the chalky substrata bind this matrix to the grapevine root filled media. So while we may not see resultant barchans currently moving across our landscape, rock outcrops on the estate reveal a presence in the past. It is phenomenal to think some 20 Million years ago that part of the land now farmed organically was once a desert, turn coastline as the east west running transverse Santa Ynez Mountains bulldozed everything towards the North following the San Andreas Fault up the California coast.

This rich geological history mimics our own family’s timeline, although much briefer, as we have surpassed our 20th Anniversary of growing estate wine grapes, with a predominate forecast of progressively growing our estate brand and providing grapes to over 24 individual local wineries, whom may seem isolated in nature yet are linked back to the estate. It is this business hybrid of estate winemaking and wine-grape sales that has allowed us to stay the course of excellence and relevance in the shifting sands of time.

Feb 3, 2020 at 4:34 PM Permalink

Interbed

n. A layer of a rock bed found lying either embedded between or alternating with rock beds of a different lithology (rock type). A geologic interstratification where environmental changes are recorded in the layers of time. For example, sedimentary rocks may be interbedded if there were sea level variations in their depositional environment. Observing the distinctly different rock layers intertwined can illustrate not just geologic events, perhaps even a dance between competing modes of deposition. 

When interbedding occurs it chronicles a period of time and the interactions of the various rock types. This timeline, if studied, can indicate features about the past, present, and future not unlike doing a comparative vertical wine flight to distinguish a single varietal’s environmental impact per vintage or looking at previous vintages of a wine’s blend components, comparing the interlacing of each varietal as the percentages change per release.

The introspective observations of various key components in wine and their relationships per year is omnipresent on our family’s mind as we celebrate our 10th anniversary of making estate wines coupled with our 20th anniversary of growing estate grapes.  We are contemplating the past, present, and future of our estate wine program as we pass this first decade and feel inspired by what we have accomplished to date and we encourage you to do the same by accessing some of the select library wines we have purposely held back for your enjoyment. While the vintages may change, the common thread is our dedication to rendering estate driven wines by all of the family’s winemaking contributions to ensure that any changes are sewn into the matrix seamlessly. This is the task set forth as we enter the 2019 harvest where a cooler spring and early summer have now flipped into a very hot late summer. 

Interbedding both a cool and hot climate into one vintage will result in wine-grapes with intense flavor, balanced acidity, and ultimately predisposed to make wines that will have deep color, tannin, structure, and age-worthy character. While we expect to find more dark fruit tones and pepper spice attributes in this vintage, it will be a treat to watch these wines evolve in barrel throughout the next couple of years in the winery, and even more so in bottle in your cellar. 

Oct 1, 2019 at 4:41 PM Permalink

Attrition

n. A form of erosion, caused either by coastal, river, or glacial, where the rocks that are transported have regular impacts and abrasion breaking them into smaller, smoother, and rounder fragments. The grain-size distribution of these sediments is controlled by the rock from which they are derived and the velocity and load capacity of the transport means. The contents give a geologist historical context of both the current local erosion and depositional environmental as well as the previous environments, all dictated by the original rock available.

A complex time system is revealed when looking at attrition, since it is not constant, depending on seasonal variations with increased rainfalls or the source of the parent rock being eroded. Very reminiscent of analyzing an estate vineyard over, say 20 years. Where the vintages have tell tale signs of seasonal moisture, yet are overall indicative of the ground from which the vines are firmly rooted. In that time we have also seen both the grapevines and crafted wines become a perfect matrix of smoother and rounded components, like those seasoned rock fragments found on a river bottom.

Ironically this time matrix doesn’t extend just to our grapes, but also is found in the physical layers of our estate vineyard. The upper elevations, 580 feet and higher, houses a conglomerate layer with rounded fragments of chert, sandstone, and chalk which erode into our lower elevations to pepper the sandy vineyard blocks. These fragments create refractive heat emitters, keep the soil from compacting, and help retain the groundwater feeding the vines roots. The derivation of the rocks and sand come from a coastal boundary that once defined our ranch as it raised out of the ocean some 20 million years ago.

The attrition simili also parallels the family’s winemaking, where 2019 constitutes a pivotal year, marking our 20thanniversary of growing world-class wine grapes, and our 10thanniversary of making estate wines. In that time matrix we have handcrafted 15 different wine-types from the estate, all perfected, chiseled, and defined by their origins. Illustrated in our estate Syrahs where a 2, 3, or 4-year barrel aging program defines the resulting wine, allowing them to age, round and smooth with time both in the winery and in your hands.

May 1, 2019 at 10:26 AM Permalink

Petrology

n. The scientific study of the composition, texture, and structure of rocks; analyzing their distribution, occurrence, and origin in relation to physiochemical condition and geologic processes. The crux of this study is the classification of the three major rocks – igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary. The state and formation of each rock dictated by the various geological forces of heat and pressure fundamentally driven by convection currents from our Earth’s core and plate tectonics on our planet’s outer shell, a process known as orogenesis. Again, with all of these processes we can distill everything down into those three rock types, in essence giving us the three dimensions of petrology.

It is uncanny then when looking at the world of wine, one finds themselves looking at many different varietals and grapes, yet similarly it can also break down into divisions. Sommeliers commonly focus on new-world versus old-world classifications, however sometimes omitting what really should be one on its own – when these two worlds collide. As a winemaker, knowledge is gained working harvests in both new and old-world wine regions, wine styles can become solidified. Obtaining a master’s degree in Viticulture and Enology after a degree in Geology however expands horizons like the petrologist’s ability to look not just at a rock, but the story behind its formation and environment.

For Larner, this is the story of the inaugural release of the petrology wine series, commemorating the 20thanniversary of growing organic wine-grapes in the Ballard Canyon AVA and our 10thanniversary of the family making estate wines. A personal quest fueled by a winemaker’s experiences and training, making wine in three different dimensions, new-world, old-world, and inspired – Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary (respectively). Where each wine labeled by the rock type carries with it ‘s own energy and genesis.

All three wines born in 2014 from the estate vineyard, crafted to adopt their respective styles through the fermentation techniques, oak type, and clonal selection: Igneous, a rock born of fire, represents a new world style Syrah stylized after Australian Shiraz and its use of fine American oak aging. Metamorphic, a complex rock molded by heat and/or pressure, an old-world style influenced by Côte Rôtie and its use of 100% stem-inclusion and co-fermentation with Viognier. Lastly, Sedimentary, a layered formation eroded and deposited and lithified, which can truly be described as a Californian style, taking the unconventional approach of Syrah co-fermented with Malvasia Bianca and aging in Russian oak barrels.

If our planet is made of three fundamental rocks: Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary, then the petrology wine selection seeks to bridge the elusive intersection between geology and enology. Together, these three expressions complete a portrait of a single grape, Syrah.

Feb 1, 2019 at 10:30 AM Permalink

Erratic

n. In geology, an erratic refers to material moved by some sort of geologic force or process from one location to another. One of the more common methods of this type of movement of even large rock masses is by a glacier, which erodes and transports a fragment as it travels, then deposits when recedes. Ultimately leaving a rock deposited in an environment that is not native or expected.

While glaciers never made it far enough south to cover the Ballard Canyon AVA, that sense of something out of place has defined this year’s growing season and translated directly into harvest. With our fingers crossed we began a later than usual emergence of the grape vines, with bud-break around 2 weeks behind the previous years. Spring was cool and with the onset of summer came “erratic” weather patterns – with random heat spikes for short durations, leaving their mark on both canopy and fruit. The vines continued in stride until mid-August where both the heat spikes returned coupled with the vines being parched from their marathon of growing that season, resulting in specific soil types and rootstocks altering their ripening habits.

It is no secret that over the years an echelon of fruit ripeness occurs on our organically farmed estate, with the Viognier and Malvasia Bianca being harvested first, followed by Syrah and Grenache, then finishing the season with Mourvèdre. However, as the 2018 vintage has shown, there are times that whether a geologist or winemaker, you find yourself looking at something that is unpredictable. This harvest began with picking Grenache first, next Syrah, followed by Mourvèdre and lastly the Malvasia Bianca then Viognier.

While it may appear on the surface that the geologic process responsible for the erratic behavior of the fruit ripening was weather, the sequence of the heat spikes coupled with the soil where the roots have laid their foundation, moved blocks and cultivars in an irregular pattern. Either way, what proved paramount was to identify those variables to ensure that while something may not be following a normal trajectory, it is harvested at its optimal moment rather than where it may have previously been formed. Only then will the geologist see the erratic as out of place, yet still somehow beautifully integrated into the environment to which it was delivered.

Oct 17, 2018 at 10:15 PM Permalink

Disconformity

n. In geology, an unconformity between parallel layers of sedimentary rocks which represent a period of erosion or non-deposition. This break in a sedimentary sequence will not have a difference of inclination (orientation or angle) between the two strata on either side of the boundary. While not easily evident in some cases, the lapse can represent a measureable change in the depositional environment.

This disturbance in a local environment also parallels the last six years of growing conditions experienced at the Larner Estate. The 2012 vintage experienced early rains, November, which dried out before our regular rainy season that following February – kicking off a five-year drought run. Both the 2013 and 2015 vintages we almost the hottest on record, whereas the 2014 and 2016 resembled more classic vintages yet still lower in moisture. The 2017 vintage paralleled the 2015 vintage, but cooled down towards the end – rendering wines that are powerful, yet still maintain elegance. All of these years were continuous in one aspect, lower total rainfall quantities.

The disconformity occurred over the winter of 2017 into 2018, where a dry early winter season spawned wildfires coupled with early rains resulted in devastating mudslides in burn areas like the Montecito area (#montecitostrong). The 2018 season then continued with late rains (March and April) that resulted in a very cool spring and to date very tepid peak temperatures. The result appears to be a vintage that unlike the previous, in some cases a full month early, could ultimately be a full month later than normal. These vintages test a winemakers craft to ensure the grapes ripen without being defined by vegetal characters.

Fortunately, the signature of an estate vineyard with pedigree is one that can produce a consistent quality of wine-grapes despite varying vintage conditions. This is why the famous wine critic labeled our vineyard a “Californian Grand Cru” – wine-speak for a prestigious site. Therefore, despite disconformities with vintages, the wines rendered from our organically farmed vines continue to outshine. Despite years of drought or cooler peak temperatures, our family can rely on our site expression to remain true, the signature of a vineyard that is iconic. Wine critics have coined this with the French word “Terroir”, we Geologist would prefer to call it “Earthfluence”. 

May 14, 2018 at 1:59 PM Permalink

Strata

n. In geology, stratum or the plural strata, is a layer of igneous rock or sedimentary rock or soil that was formed at the surface of our earth. It will have internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers above or below. When composed of sedimentary rock, it generally consists of one kind of matter representing continuous deposition. The stratum is the fundamental unit in a stratigraphic column and forms the basis of the study in stratigraphy, almost like writing another page in the book of geologic time.

While the estate of Larner Vineyard may be composed of primarily two strata, both the Careaga Sandstone Formation and the Paso Robles Conglomerate Formation, the layers of complexity harvested from the organically cultivated grapes not only distinguish the wines they make, but yield consistency from vintage to vintage. Even looking back in the recent decade where we have experienced a 5-year drought, the resulting wines varied in nuances, yet are steadfast to speak of the land from where they were born.

This begs the question, how do these wines evolve and how do we know where they are going? Luckily at Larner we keep an extensive library starting back to our first vintages in 2009, and occasionally we get to revisit these moments in time. If you still have our inaugural 2009 Syrah or Elemental in the cellar, you will find it to be at its peak of expression, enticing bold fruit still remains, adorned with spices and a solid finish. If you have 2010s, not to worry, pepper spices dominate, with hints of blue fruits, and an even smoother mouth feel. We could go on and on for each vintage, but invite you to look out for any of these wines – we even release some at our wine club events.

If your not into collecting or sitting on wines, not to worry, the 2014s and 2015s being released in our February 2018 shipment represent further distinguishing pages in our vinous almanac. Probably the two most expressive vintages in our now near decade of estate winemaking, they are sure to be noteworthy bookmarks or points of reflection. The best part of enjoying either our young or older wines, is the experience of exploring these pages of our viticultural story or strata – making you no longer just wine lovers, but geologist in our book.

Jan 23, 2018 at 8:11 AM Permalink

Formation

n. To classify and map layers of rock, geologists created a basic unit of stratigraphy called a formation. This rock unit must be distinctive enough in appearance that it can be easily recognized from other surrounding rock layers and it also has to be thick and extensive enough to correlate across wide distances between outcrops and exposures. Formations are typically named after a geographic name of a permanent feature near the location where the rocks are exposed, and when a dominant rock type, such as sandstone or shale is present, it is commonly included in the name.

Larner Vineyard is found in the Careaga Sandstone Formation (Tca) that dates back to the Pliocene Epoch (2.58 to 5.33 Million Years Ago) where in 1999 its organic vines were planted. This relatively young geologic formation through erosion is the origin of our estate’s sandy loams and blocks that have occasional rounded boulders and cobbles from upper elevations with lenses of the Paso Robles Conglomerate Formation (QTp). These resultant soils produce quick draining infertile growing conditions, where the grapevines struggle enough to focus energy on ripening its fruit to the fullest potential.

As we enter into the 2017 harvest, the vines are relieved with another warm but at least a more moist growing season, with vineyard yields about normal, canopy growth surpassing previous years, and most importantly an extended window to pick fruit slowly and methodically to capture the best flavors with balanced acidity. That is the essence of a formation, where like rock units, each grape varietal is distinctive enough in this ideal growing season to form wines that will easily be recognized from its surrounding vintages.

However, the word formation can also used to describe the structure, arrangement or even the process of forming something. For the Larner Family, the 2017 vintage is monumental since after many years of legal, political, and local governmental planning, we begin the formation of our Estate Winery – breaking ground in 2018.

Oct 1, 2017 at 8:07 AM Permalink

Quicksand

Quicksand--n. The behavior of a soil that is composed of saturated loose sand that when agitated suddenly suffers a transition from a solid state to a liquefied state, having the consistency of a heavy liquid. The liquefied soil loses strength and cannot support weight, and objects sink to the level at which the weight of the object is equal to the weight of the displaced soil/water mix. In extreme cases whole buildings in a 1964 Alaskan earthquake quickly sank and rolled onto their side. Contrary to the old wives tales, an object can float due to buoyancy, so it is best not to struggle - which could ultimately swallow you up.

The Larner Estate Vineyard is primarily composed of Marina Sand, a widespread formation defining the Ballard Canyon American Viticultural Area (AVA). This low-vigor loamy sandy soil allows for outstanding growth where nutrient and water is cherished by each vine. However in cases of frequent rain cycles, experienced in the Winter 2016/Spring 2017 the subsurface can become saturated, sometimes leading to quicksand. While it may appear relatively firm, the occasional tractor working the vineyard becomes a prime target. Bud-break occurred on March 23rd of this vintage, shortly there after was the perfect time to rototill our alternating rows of nutrient-rich cover crop back into the soil to allow for subsurface composting, enriching the feeder roots. This pass does cause some agitation, and therefore we remained vigilant on every part of the vineyard to ensure these tractors would not get sucked up, as they are not very buoyant.

                  These frequent rains have continued to fall in weekly events, allowing the salts in the soil to be leached away, paving the way for better nutrient uptake. This flush refreshes the soils and allows the roots to work together in making a healthy and balanced vine, with better yield potential than the last 4 years of drought. Of course it is still early in the growing season to predict, but we are off to a terrific start as canopy growth has already surpassed previous year’s length. In May comes the most inspiring moment of the year when the vines begin to flower forming this year’s grape crop, which we love to share at our annual vineyard gathering for wine club members.

                  The remaining alternating cover crop rows, a refuge for our beneficial insects before they move back up into the canopies, were also mowed in March to drop the frost layer, which was well served as 5 nights so far this season have gone below freezing. This second pass for mowing also was quite nerve racking as we diligently ensured our tractors stayed on Terra Firma, to avoid the quicksand. It is uncanny how this vigilance in our farming has paralleled our continued struggle to obtain a winery and tasting room permit on our estate, so far a 7-year saga. As many of you may know we are closer to reaching this goal, but know the ground we walk is easily disturbed by agitation. 

May 2, 2017 at 1:57 PM Permalink

Transverse

n. A geologic structure lying or extending across an area, in a cross direction to other distinguishing local features. In southern California this anomaly is found in the Transverse Ranges, formed by the San Andreas Fault, beginning at Point Conception in Santa Barbara County and runs all the way into San Diego Counties. They derive the name Transverse due to their almost perfect east-west orientation, where they are in a cross direction to the general north-south orientation of most of California’s coastal mountains. In the stretch within Santa Barbara County, they are locally known as the Santa Ynez Mountains – defining the south skyline of its prestigious wine region.  

 In Geology, looking for anomalies can be rewarding and exciting, and that same inspiration can be found in winemaking when you go in another direction, almost against the grain. Hence the creation of the 2014 Transverse Syrah, a wine made from other vineyards, not our estate. A challenge to create a Syrah with as much opulence and character found from our own vineyard could only stem from selecting choice sites across this region.

Ultimately four vineyards were sourced; Coquelicot, Verna’s, Rodney’s, and Star Lane – the only common tread is that they too lay across an east-west orientation following the Santa Ynez Mountains – hence its name, Transverse. Each vineyard brings the fingerprint of its location, more pepper tones from the cooler western locations, and bright fruits and berries from the warmer eastern locations, ultimately creating a similar profile we find all encapsulated within our own estate.

Yet in typical Larner fashion this wine only deviates in origin, representing Santa Barbara County, and therefore carries a non-estate label, water colored artwork depicting a geologic outcrop representing various layers found within. A bottled testament to a cross-section of inspiration and aspiration. 

Feb 1, 2017 at 12:00 PM Permalink