• KSBY News Report March 4, 2022
• George Donati, 2023 SLO County Agriculturalist of the Year
• Erin Amaral, 2023 SLO County Wine Grape Grower of the Year
• Wine Enthusiast Magazine - Nov. 2021 Spanish Springs
• The Growth of Cool-Climate Grenache
• California’s Best Unsung Wine Regions
• SLO Coast AVA

Press

Wine Enthusiast Magazine December 2021

Capturing Coastal Crispness

Spanish Springs Vineyard - Farmed by Pacific Coast Farming

Just two miles from the clam chowder shacks and surf shops of Pismo Beach in San Luis Obispo County, Spanish Springs Vineyard occupies the east-facing flanks of Price Canyon atop sandy, acid-retaining soils, with occasional piles of fractured shale visible beneath the vines.

Planted in 2007, the 92-acre vineyard, which is owned by developer Henry Warshaw and farmed by Pacific Coast Farming, now sells to three dozen wineries, making it one of the most popular vineyards anywhere.

“You’re far enough away from the ocean where you’re not sitting in the fog, but you’re close enough to the ocean that it’s emanating those cool-climate aspects,” says Coby Parker-Garcia, who’s been making wines in the nearby Edna Valley since 2002 and started his own brand called El Lugar Wines in 2013. “I think of the Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande Valley as very coastal AVAs. Spanish Springs trumps that. It’s twice as close to the ocean, if not closer.”

Though most of the property is Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, there’s also Syrah, Grenache, Albariño, Pinot Gris, Viognier and Barbera. Steve Dooley of Stephen Ross Cellars, which makes a flinty Albariño from the property, believes that the long hang times make for pronounced varietal fruit expressions.

“The Albariño has great acidity and displays a coastal energy, which is consistent across all the varieties grown there,” says Dooley.

Pinot Noir and Chardonnay remain the workhorse varieties and are the sole bottlings for Oceano Wines. Co-owner Rachel Martin, who also makes wine in Virginia, was so smitten upon first visiting in 2016 that she signed up for six tons of Chardonnay on the spot. Oceano Winemaker Marbue Marke believes, alongside the property’s clonal diversity, “multiple exposures and hillside slopes” create microclimates that enhance complexity.

“Probably most significantly,” he says, “it brings brightness and balance with its low pH at maximum ripeness, thanks to the soil and cooling ocean breeze.”

For Parker-Garcia of El Lugar, Spanish Springs “just makes wines that truly show a sense of place.” While his Pinot Noir is savory, his Syrah is especially characteristic, offering plenty of iodine and kelp notes.

“You do get that salinity, that nori character in the wines,” he says. ■