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Back in 2012, I started to notice that the lens of my journalism career was increasingly focusing on wine. By then, a hefty chunk of my Santa Barbara Independent articles were about Central Coast winemakers, and most of my reliable freelance work at that time was for Wine Spectator.
I had no clue that Wine Enthusiast would come calling a couple years later and add more than a decade of essentially full-time gasoline to that simmering fire, or that the blaze would eventually result in Vines & Vision: The Winemakers of Santa Barbara County, the book I did with Macduff Everton. But I did realize in 2012 that it would make a lot of sense to actually work in the vineyards and make some wine myself, so that I could really walk as much of the walk as any otherwise gainly employed journalist could.
So that spring, with my avocado-growing buddy Giuseppe Bonfiglio as my vintner-partner, we started doing symbolic work in the vineyards of both the Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley, and plotted a wine project with Peter Work of Ampelos Cellars. From 2012 until 2020, Giuseppe and I eventually made nine wines together; seven of them were at Ampelos, and the final two were with Matt Brady (plus Everton and a couple other friends) at Samsara Wines in Goleta. (We basically got tired of driving all the way to Ampelos in Lompoc.)
I called mine Periodista Wines, as “periodista” means “journalist” in Spanish, and relates to an inside joke of sorts from a 2003 adventure with three buddies to Costa Rica. I then added an additional, often journalism-related fanciful name to each bottle as well. Giuseppe gave a different name to most of his wines, all of them related to members or events in his extended Sicilian family, and umbrella’d his project under the name Dedication.
This should not be news to any of you who’ve read this newsletter for any substantial chunk of time. What is new, however, is that we actually popped every vintage last Friday at the same time to share with our longtime friends and supporters, many of whom supported our efforts from the beginning with some modest investments.
With “disco chicken” made by Rodrigo Gimenez — the Argentinian architect-turned-chef I met more than a decade ago when he won The Indy’s summer grilling contest multiple years in a row — and Italian wedding soup by Chef Peter McNee of Convivo, we served the wines in a flurry of pours and brief speeches about each.
It was a really fun night, with plenty of surprises and shifts in which wines were showing the best. The 2012 Ampelos syrah and 2013 Rio Vista pinot always perform pretty well, but the 2013 Thompson grenache was probably my favorite. And that’s good, since I somehow have more of that one than the others.
Here was the list of wines. My Periodistas are the first ones, and Giuseppe’s Dedications are the second names:
2012 “Big D” / “Fiorino” Ampelos Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills Syrah
2013 “Stop the Presses” / “Grazia” Thompson Vineyard Alisos Canyon Grenache
2013 “Chateau de Bauch” Rio Vista Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir
2013 “Cinco con Lago” Kelsey Bench Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon
(5 percent Syrah)
2016 “Name Change” / “Ignazio” Tres Cajones Vineyard El Pomar District Paso Robles Graciano (10 percent Syrah-5 percent Grenache)
2017 “Inkblots & Ashtrays” / “Cent’Anni” S.B. Highlands Vineyard Cuyama Valley Mourvèdre
2018 “Sunshine Clause” / “Cinquanta Anni” Camp Four Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley Carignan
2020 “Bold Type” Nolan Ranch Alisos Canyon Syrah (75 percent) – Alta Mesa Vineyard Cuyama Valley Grenache (25 percent)
2020 “Hi My Name Is” Nolan Ranch Syrah-Grenache Rosé
Food & Wine Parties to Hit
I’m sorry if you didn’t make the invite list to the Periodista party, but we only had so many wines and seats in the backyard, so we mostly kept the invitees to the folks who’d been involved with the wines since the very beginning. Lucky for you, it’s food and wine party season, so there’s plenty of other fun to be had.
Here’s a quick rundown of what’s on my short list right now:
BACKYARD BRUNCH: There are still some tickets left for this weekend’s Backyard Brunch at the Stow House in Goleta. Hosted by the Santa Barbara Independent, this is a fundraiser for the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund, which supports the newspaper’s environmental and social justice reporting. Click here for tickets and details.
TAMALE CLASS: My tamale buddy Richard Lambert is back at it, teaching you how to make tamales. But this time, he’s running a hands-on series of classes, and ensuring that you have enough to take home. The $75 Saturday classes are 1-3:30 p.m. on April 12, 26, and May 3. Click here for details and tickets.
CHEESE THE DAYS: The Indy is also hosting two “Cheese the Day!” events on May 7 and 14 atop the Kimpton Canary to coincide with Wine Week 2025 as well as the Santa Barbara Culinary Experience. Each evening will pair eight of The Cheese Shop’s cheese selections with four different wines presented by each winemaker as chefs and restaurant owners opine what works and what doesn’t. I’ll also be on hand to keep the conversation moving. Read my story here for more details, and click here for tickets.
SUNSET SIP & SWIRL: Speaking of that downtown rooftop, Finch & Fork is hosting a “Sunset Sip & Swirl” on top of the Canary as well on April 24, 5-7 p.m. With music by Catalina Esteves, the evening will feature wines by white and rosé wines by Margerum, Brander, Cambria, and Paradise Springs, with plenty of charcuterie and cheese from Finch & Fork. Click here for tickets.
WHITE RUSSIANS @ THE GOOD LION: In one of the cooler promotions in recent memory, The Good Lion is serving White Russians for just $10 on Saturday, April 19, to coincide with The Granada Theater’s screening of The Big Lebowski next door. That event will also feature the film’s White Russian–drinking star Jeff Bridges on stage. I’m bummed to be out of town for Easter weekend, so please have one or two for me. Better yet, the Good Lion makes theirs with coconut milk instead of heavy cream, so your stomach will be fine for the flick.
SANTA BARBARA CULINARY EXPERIENCE: As an advisory committee volunteer for the Santa Barbara Culinary Experience, I’ve watched with pride at the long list of events lining up for the weeklong that runs May 12 to 18. I’m involved in a number of the events myself, including the Grand Wine Tasting on May 17, where I’ll be hosting a couple panels as more than 40 wineries and a dozen food purveyors serve the crowd. Click here for the full SBCE lineup, or here to buy tickets for the Grand Tasting.
Green Guide Is Out
In case you didn’t see it on the streets, this year’s Santa Barbara Green Guide — which is a collaboration between the Santa Barbara Independent and Blue Dot Living — came out last week. It’s full of stories about eco-minded experiences and efforts in Santa Barbara County. I penned a couple stories myself, including the cover story about boat to table dining with Little Dom’s Brandon Boudet and fisherman Ben Hyman of Wild Local Seafood and then a roundup of sustainably minded wineries, including Amevive, Grimm’s Bluff, Donnachadh, and Beckmen.
Low Alc But High Flavor Reds
I’m a big fan of lighter, fresher red wines that are lower in alcohol yet still packed with tons of flavor. So it was a pleasure to be able to dive into that style for this Wine Enthusiast article and interview a few winemakers doing it well, including Drake Whitcraft, Samuel Louis Smith, and Ryan Alfaro. All three of those guys have Santa Barbara connections of varying depth, and I think all three will be at Satellite’s Natural Coast Wine Festival too.
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