This project is a collaboration between four of Santa Barbara’s most exciting winemakers and four of the area’s exceptional vineyards wound together, from a common thread.

50% Syrah

I LOVE Syrah!  After my graduation from UC Davis with a degree in
Viticulture and Enology I had a passion and yearning to go back to my hometown of Santa Barbara to make Syrah.  I also traveled through France and tasted the oldest and most true to the varietal examples of Syrah in the World from Cote Rotie and Hermitage.  My passion lead me to Australia where I made wine in McLaren Vale and tasted some of the most glorious Syrah from 100+ year old vines and concluded Syrah was the grape for me.  During my travels, I continued to make wine in Santa Barbara County where I feel we grow some of the best wine grapes in the world.
The Syrah from the Paradise Road Vineyard is truly inspirational.  The
vineyard possesses red, iron-rich soils much like those of McLaren Vale while achieving the depth and intensity of the best Syrahs of Hermitage.  The Paradise Road Syrah adds weight and power to this exquisite blend of
Syrah and Grenache named Thread.  Of eight total barrels produced in 2007, I chose one barrel, which blended best with Dave’s Tierra Alta Syrah, Mikael’s Larner Grenache and Larry’s Camp Four Grenache.  I hope you enjoy my contribution to this wine as much as I enjoyed being part of the final outcome. Blair Fox

Dave Potter – I love fruit, and I am looking for fruit in my wines – pure, focused, fresh, and bright fruit.  I have started my career traveling and making wine in Australia, France, and here in California.  I feel like this range of experience has molded my winemaking style into one that embraces the finesse,  elegance, and personality of Old World European styles, along with the vibrancy and intensity of New World wine styles.

The Tierra Alta vineyard is a special site with south-east facing slopes and limestoney soils in the cooler climate Ballard Canyon district of the Santa Ynez Valley.  The Syrah barrel that I have contributed to this Thread project was destined to make my ‘Dark Red’ blend, but I am really excited to join forces with Blair, Mikael, and Larry.  The fruit was hand-picked, crushed and destemmed, then punched down once to thrice daily.  The wine was fermented in French Oak, and basket-pressed while still slightly sweet to finish it’s fermentation in barrel. It is a full-bodied wine with great structure and intensity, but what I am most pleased with is the balance and purity of fruit that it displays.  I think this purity is the greatest asset it contributes to the complex Thread blend.  That’s what I think, anyway.

50% Grenache

Mikael Sigouin - Larner Vineyard Grenache Larner Vineyard is located on the western edge of the Ballard Canyon. This is a small family run vineyard with approximately 40 acres of grapes. The Grenache is planted on a south facing hillside at the top of the vineyard. The soil is very sandy, so there is great drainage and just the right amount of stress on the vines to keep the yields low. My particular section is planted with ENTAV clone 362 which is supposedly the lowest yielding of all Grenache clones. I love working with Grenache from this vineyard and I was once again awestruck by the color and intensity of the fruit. The fruit was fermented using native yeast and pressed off a little sweet straight to barrel to finish primary fermentation. I used 4 three year old French barrels so as not to overshadow the fruit. The wine spent 20 months in 3 year old Allier French oak before bottling in June of 2008.  Mikael Sigouin.

Larry Schaffer -  My winemaking style is purely pragmatic – I try to create the best wine from each lot of grapes I receive with no set rules of how to go about it. All of my reds are hand punched down 1-3 times a day, but even the number of punchdowns is not predetermined. I add a percentage of whole clusters to some lots (including the Camp 4 Grenache included in Thread) but not all lots. I press the lots off when they are nearly dry, but even this is somewhat variable.