LaBarge Winery

LaBarge Winery in California’s Sta. Rita Hills AVA is a small estate operation with unusually few degrees of separation between vineyard and bottle. Pierre LaBarge IV and a small crew handle vineyard management, winemaking, bottling, labeling and even landscaping. The 12-acre vineyard in Santa Barbara County grows Pinot noir, Grenache, Syrah, Albariño and Viognier, giving the estate a broader grape palette than Pinot alone.

The vineyard is farmed organically, with canopy work performed by hand. Vines grow at a density of 2,420 per acre in soils ranging from clay loam and sandy clay to diatomaceous earth and calcareous shale. Pinot noir, Syrah, Grenache and Albariño form the core of the wine club selections.

Visits center on time with the winemaker rather than a drop-in tasting counter. The $75-per-person tasting includes an estate winery tour and current vintages of four wines, with no more than six guests. A $125 lunch-and-tasting option adds a meal catered by DUO of Santa Barbara. Both experiences require appointments and are available Monday through Saturday. Harvest narrows the options: tasting availability is very limited from September 1 through November 1, and the lunch experience pauses entirely during that period.