Sweet Sweeney Canyon

In 1980, Chris and Kristi Marks were told they were crazy for attempting to grow their Sweeney Canyon vineyard so far west in the Santa Ynez Valley. Today, their property lies in the Santa Rita Hills — which has become one of the country’s most respected appellations and will celebrate its 10th anniversary with the “Wine & Fire” event, August 12-14 — and their wines are nearly impossible to find. But on July 27, winemaker Kristi will pour her ever-elusive wines at SpiritLand Bistro alongside a menu prepared by chef Edie Robertson. Here, Marks talks about the Sta. Rita Hills appellation 30 years ago, why she loves the industry, and how women make wine better.

What was it like starting a vineyard here in 1980?

No one really believed you could ripen grapes that close to the coast. We started planting the vineyard all ourselves — we set up all the ditches and irrigation, put all of the grapes in, and did all of the work. We didn’t have anybody. We started to get a crop and began selling it from 1984 to 2006, and it wasn’t until a few years ago we actually began making our own wines. During that time, we spent weekends taking every class UC-Davis had to offer in terms of enology and viticulture so we could actually learn how to do this stuff. We were kind of flying by the seat of our pants.