Produced on cool sandy soils in the Santa Maria Valley, closest to the Pacific Ocean, this wine displays a wonderful minerality derived from the ancient seabed soils.
Located 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean, it's the furthest west and one of the coolest places in the Santa Maria Valley.
Soils: Plain series: Marine eolian loam sand, once a prehistoric sea sludge.
All the grapes are harvested by hand at night. They are fermented in barrels using wild yeasts and undergo malolactic fermentation.
Aged for 16 months in French oak barrels (41% new).
Bottled unfine and unfiltered.
Aromas of white daffodil, lemon custard, and grapefruit blend with salty sea spray. The straightforward minerality and bright acidity create a beautiful balance in oak barrels. Can be aged for 5 to 10 years.
The story of Bien Nacid began in 1837 when Tomas Olivera was granted two square leagues of land by two governors in what was then Spanish Alta California. The land claim stretched from the Santa Maria Mesa to the San Rafael Mountains and bordered the Cuyama River where it flows into the Sisquoc River.
In 1855, Tomas Olivera sold Rancho Tepusque to his son-in-law, Don Juan Pacifico Ontiveros, who built a brick cabin and began cultivating wine grapes the following year. The old cabin still stands today, surrounded by the rows of grapes in the Bien Nacido vineyard, and is an important place of rest for the local community of winemakers and growers.
In 1969, the Miller family, a fifth-generation California farmer, purchased land in the then-nascent wine country of Santa Maria Valley. By the early 1970s, the Millers had planted vineyards and named them Bien Nacido Vineyards. Since then, winemakers at renowned wineries such as Ojai Vineyard and AuBon Climat have been using Bien Nacido grapes to produce outstanding wines. Located on the eastern side of the Santa Maria Valley and heavily influenced by the Pacific Ocean, the vineyard produces top-quality Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah. The terroir of this land is a combination of rocky soil, cool climate, long hours of sunshine and fog that gently envelopes the grapes, and the passion of the people who work in the fields every day.
The individuality and characteristics of Bien Nacido grapes are discovered by the cultivation team who work in the fields every day with sincerity and a sense of mission, and they truly represent their dedication to their work. Winemakers throughout California covet grapes from here because they can experience this terroir.
Trey Fletcher
Prior to joining Miller Family Brands, he worked in the Stags Leap AVA in Napa Valley and the Mendoza and Cafayate regions of Argentina before taking on the role of assistant winemaker at Domaine Alfredo, then assistant winemaker at Retry in Sonoma before joining the Miller Family on California's Central Coast.
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