Patience Pays Off for Hines Family’s Sta. Rita Hills Wines

Right now marks the sixth harvest for the Hines family’s two vineyards in the heart of the Sta. Rita Hills, but you could be forgiven if you haven’t heard of them yet.

Their first wines, a stylishly labeled, value-minded brand called The Set, only hit the market last year, and their more upscale effort, William Hines Wines, is still yet to launch. But the family — originally from New Orleans, money from the oil business — is ready to go public.

“We’ve been very patient trying to learn the vineyards and not frontload with too much,” said Christopher Hines, the son of founder William “Bubba” Hines and now the family member running the project. “It feels like that phase is about to end, and we’re ready for act two.”

Act one was well orchestrated by longtime regional expert Sashi Moorman, who devised plots on both sides of Highway 246. 

On the north side, off the west edge of Drum Canyon Road, are 24 acres of pinot noir. The wind-whipped, south-facing blocks are planted to more productive Dijon clones, while the better protected, northerly directed blocks feature more finicky but beloved heirloom clones of Calera, Mount Eden, and Swan. The former fall into The Set wines, while the latter land in the William Hines label. 

“There’s a concentration in that fruit,” said Chris, pointing to the heirloom clones, before switching his finger to the other side, “that we can’t achieve with that fruit.”

Across the highway, north of Mail Road, are much more varied blocks of chardonnay, syrah, gamay, viognier, and pinot noir, amounting to almost 26 acres and mostly going to The Set. Situated in a bowl that’s generally facing east, the aspects and planting styles are quite varied, including tipi-style syrah and head-trained gamay, which is an anomaly here and designed to be dry-farmed when possible.

“I believe they have some of the most exciting viticultural assets in our area,” said Moorman. “Everything I’ve learned throughout my career was applied at their estates.”

The family also owns a 25-acre plot along Highway 246 that they hope to use for hospitality in the future, though it’s now planted to strawberries. As far as visitation currently, there’s a quaint place to taste near an irrigation pond that’s slowly being planned. “The view is phenomenal,” said Chris as I peered north toward the east end of the appellation, across Groundstar and onto Rio Vista and Peake Ranch. 

The Hines moved to Santa Barbara from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2006, eventually buying these lands around 2015. His dad made news years ago for supporting cannabis development in the area, but has since quieted on that issue. 

Chris and his brother Billy Hines run a film production company in Los Angeles, and their most recent film, a Gus Van Sant–directed piece called Dead Man’s Wire, earned a 13-and-a-half-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival. Billy remains about 90 percent focused on that company, while Chris shifted 90 percent of his work toward the wine a few years ago. 

“Once this became a reality, I jumped at the chance to take this over, and I haven’t looked back since,” said Chris. “There’s an intersection of art and agriculture that I find really compelling. When I got a taste for that, it was a pretty easy decision for me.” He’s been learning the winemaking trade with Moorman and his crew, intent on taking it over fully when possible — perhaps when the steel barn along Mail Road is turned into a proper winery. 

Not that their dad Bubba vanished. “He’s at the winery right now,” said Chris. “He’s an intern. I’m serious. He’s cleaning out tanks.”

Across the board, The Set wines from both sides overdeliver on their less than $50 price tags. They’re fresh and nervy, often quite herby in good ways, reflective occasionally of Moorman’s widely lauded — and way pricier — Domaine de la Côte bottlings. And The Set’s colorful labels aren’t just fanciful.

“They are graphic representations of what the wine tastes like,” Chris said. The high-end treble is acidity, the midrange more like minerality, and the low-end bass more about body and ripeness. 

We also tasted three of the William Hines bottlings, which amp up the intention by expressing varying impressions of pinot noir across four different cuvées.

The Careaga — named after the aquifer beneath their land — showed a similar purity to its water, while the Le Mer exhibits a chalkiness on the nose and palate, reflective of the limestone-ish soils where it grows. The Huit — from a hilltop known as block eight (huit means “eight” in French) — was quite stunning, even though it comes from the Dijon rather than the heirloom clones.

“Because of the extremity of this site, it produces a wine that tastes completely different than the wine at the bottom of the hills,” said Chris.

Without so many years of patience, who would have known?  

See thesetwines.com and williamhinesandfamily.com. 

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The Set Wines will be pouring at the 41st annual Santa Barbara Vintners Festival on Saturday, October 18, 1-4 p.m. at Vega Vineyard & Farm. Tickets range from $25 (non-drinking) to $2,500 (private cabana), with GA set at $125. See sbvintnersweekend.com.