93436 Travel Guide

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At California’s Sanford Winery: A Pinot Noir Pioneer

Where: 5010 Santa Rosa Rd [map], Lompoc, CA, United States, 93436
August 22, 2012 at 11:13 AM | by | Comments (0)

You've seen the 2004 movie "Sideways," right? It played on HBO for, like, a straight year, we swear. Well, if you have then you've already seen Sanford Winery, one of the stars of the film focusing on California wine tasting. Luckily for everyone, it's not fictional.

Sanford sits in the Santa Rita Hills AVA, a reasonably adolescent wine region if you were to make the mistake of comparing it to the older Napa Valley Area. About a decade ago it was officially given the AVA (American Viticultural Area) designation. Owing its popularity to "Sideways," the whole region has actually been producing various Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs since the early 70s, when Sanford Winery started planting the first Pinot Noir vines in the area.

These vineyards are nestled between the uncommon east-west mountain valleys, making for a perfect natural climate and protection of the very delicate vines for which Sanford meticulously cares.

While recently staying in the Santa Barbara area, we took a very scenic drive to see what all the fuss was about.

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