The last three decades has seen the establishment of five American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) within Santa Barbara County: Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley, Sta. Rita Valley, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara, and the Ballard Canyon AVA, the latter three being sub-appellations of the larger Santa Ynez Valley AVA. There is currently a proposal to further differentiate the diverse Santa Ynez Valley AVA with the proposed Los Olivos District AVA, which takes in the area between Ballard Canyon and Happy […]

The celebrated Santa Barbara historian Walter A. Tomkins wrote about the valley of the Santa Ynez River, “in its uppermost end to the east, the land was narrow and exceedingly rough and wild, widening for the so-called Santa Ynez Valley, pinching off when it became Santa Rosa Valley, then stretching on westward, seeking the sea through the Santa Rita Hills, and breaking free at last in the broad Lompoc Valley. Robert Norris, Professor Emeritus of Geology at the University of […]