Salud!: The Rise Of Santa Barbara's Wine Industry

Chapter 5. Santa Barbara Develops Wineries: 1970s–1980s

pioneers plant winegrapes g 71 vestors, Sanford planted 110 acres of grapes nine miles west of Buellton along the SantaYnez River on the 738-acre ranch that was once part of the original Santa Rosa land grant. The vineyard expansion continued. In the 1950s Dean Brown, third generation Betteravia (Santa Maria) cattle rancher, purchased the 2,200-acre Rancho Corral de Quati. Successes on the cattle ranch created tax problems for Brown, forcing him in the late 1960s and early 1970s to look for ways to diversify the ranch and take advantage of the current tax laws.35 Conversations with his friend Giff Davidge got Brown interested in using grape growing as a tax writeoff . He hired Dale Hampton to plant and manage the vineyard and figured ways to write off soil ripping, soil fumigation, purchase of plants, stakes for vines, installation of an irrigation system, and labor. By 1972 the Richard Sanford in the doorway of his adobe winery at Rancho La Rinconada. Photograph courtesy Sanford Winery and Vineyard 72 h salud ! 100-acre vineyard included Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Riesling, and Pinot Noir cuttings from uc Davis, and grapes from the vineyard were sold to Martini and to Geyser Peak. Brown’s neighbors soon followed his planting lead. Seeking an investment opportunity, automobile tire industrialist Leonard Firestone, who was also U.S. ambassador to Belgium (1974–1977), purchased 550 acres of Rancho Corral de Quati in 1971. Firestone immediately looked for ways to develop his new investment. The previous owner, Dart Industries, had commissioned Vince Patrucci to do a feasibility study on growing winegrapes on the ranch. The report predicted that the area could produce Cabernet Sauvignon grapes capable of commanding prices from $1,000 to $1,200 per ton.36 Additional good news came when Coldwell-Banker Real Estate agents T. Hayer and Richard Dick commissioned the California Farm Management (San Joaquin Valley) group to conduct an agricultural feasibility study of the rancho Corral Di Quati.37 This study, along with evidence from the Sisquoc’s 32-acre test plot, the Bettencourt-Davidge vineyard success, and Dean Brown’s 100-acre La Zaca Vineyard, pointed to the possibility of successful grape growing in the region. Firestone then directed his son, A. Brooks (who retired, at age 35, after twelve years with the family-owned Firestone Tire and Rubber Company), to investigate and report on the ranch’s agricultural possibilities. The younger Firestone studied data from the uc Davis survey and neighbor Dean Brown’s ten-year weather study. Overall, Firestone’s study found that subterranean springs provided ample water and that a western maritime influence, between the San Raphael and Santa Ynez Mountains, afforded the ranch a uc Davis region I and II grape-growing classification. The study also reported that the area averaged 16 inches of rain per year, with little or no rain during harvest times, and that its sand to gravely loam soils made the perfect growing medium for winegrapes. The most convincing evidence for both Firestones came from the trial-and-error success that had prompted local farmers to rate the area “brilliant” for winegrapes. Both Firestones believed that these farmers looked “like they know what they’re doing.”38 Convinced by these feasibility studies, Leonard Firestone began planting 260 acres of classic winegrape varietals— pioneers plant winegrapes g 73 Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon—and placed Brooks in charge of the project. Brooks used this opportunity as a way out of what he considered the rat race of the large corporate life. Firestone Tire and Rubber Company had gone public in the 1970s, and the role of the family in the business was unsure; in the words of Brooks, “We just didn’t fit.”39 Fortunately, he was able to utilize his father’s investment in Santa Ynez as an opportunity to create an active farming career.40 Further Santa Ynez planting continued throughout 1972. Marshall Ream, vice-chairman of Atlantic Richfield Corporation, while on a vacation with his wife at the Alisal Guest Ranch in Santa Ynez Valley, discovered where he wanted to retire. He purchased a 1,800-acre ranch and took note of the real estate agent’s observation that the area was perfect for winegrapes.41 Statewide market indicators like the success in Monterey County and the Bank of America report enabled Ream to bring together an investment group...