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 By K. Reka Badger
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2005 Autumn Home Page |
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| From a gentle rise in the hills west of Buellton, a keen observer can spot Santa Rosa Road, the meandering Santa Ynez River, and to the east, three gem-like vineyards. Bearing the names La Encantada, La Rinconada, and Sanford & Benedict, these leafy treasures produce glorious wine grapes and represent the life’s work of Richard and Thekla Sanford. In a classic tale of corporate goes country, Dennis and Karen Keever left the hubbub of the Bay Area to settle in the sun-dappled Santa Ynez Valley. Their path led them to a cinnamon-scented alley in Solvang, where they proudly preside over a modest empire called Birkenstock Footwear. For 35 years, the Sanfords have sung the praises and tended the soil of a once-obscure rural corridor now known around the world as Santa Rita Hills. They have planted vineyards, championed organic farming, provided a refuge for endangered birds, and headed a winery noted for its lush, food-friendly wines. Poised on the threshold of yet another life change, Richard and Thekla take pride in their long tenure in the Santa Ynez Valley and trust in the power of local support as they prepare to launch their latest venture, Alma Rosa Winery. “The Sanfords will no longer be with Sanford Winery,” Thekla reveals. “The future for us is to build on what we’ve learned. We’ve tried to do everything in a green way and we will work toward a business which is greener and more sustainable. In the interim, we will be what we call ‘camping out’ at a facility in Buellton.” “We’ve had to take stock of where we are and where we’re going,” Richard explains. “We thought about calling our new winery Santa Rosa, but it’s the soul [‘alma’], the soulful connection between ourselves, our employees and the land that really is important.” Crafted at Orcutt Road Cellars until the Sanfords build their new facility, the wines of Alma Rosa Winery display the high acid, vineyard-driven characteristics that pair so well with food. They are made primarily from fruit grown in the couple’s La Encantada Vineyard (named after a family ranch in northern Mexico), intended to supply the regional market and available for sampling at the Sanfords’ temporary tasting room in Buellton. Decades before anyone guessed the importance of the impending viticultural revolution, Richard Sanford chose the western extremity of the Santa Ynez Valley as the ideal spot to grow superior wine grapes. Fueled by science, instinct and a yearning for sanctuary, he used his knowledge of geography to locate Burgundy’s parallel within the fields and foothills of California. “I had studied geography at Berkeley,” he says, “and I did some research as to the geography of wine, where the good grapes grew. “I went back in the climate records to the turn of the century,” he continues, “and I recognized that the transverse mountains in this area were really remarkable, that their east-west nature allowed the winds coming off the ocean to moderate the climate, so you could actually choose the correct place to plant grapes.” Sanford came to agriculture with relief, gratitude, and a solid commitment to sustainable methods. His experiences in Vietnam, where he served as a navigator aboard a destroyer in the late 1960s, had left him disheartened, and he viewed farming as a kind of salvation. “I sort of gave up on our culture after Vietnam,” he admits. “I decided I had to be involved in something that was more earth-connected. “I thought about all the different kinds of agriculture and I had tasted some beautiful Burgundy wine while I was in the Navy. I thought if I could be involved in creating something that tasted like velvet, that was so beautiful, then that’s for me.” An avid sailor, Sanford spent hours skimming the seas off the Santa Barbara coast after his military service. He became friendly with another amateur skipper, botanist Michael Benedict, and in 1971 the two joined forces to plant the first Pinot Noir in the region. They also planted Chardonnay, Riesling, and Merlot, and their enterprise, the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard, marked the starting point of a new era in local agriculture, while serving as a kind of therapeutic refuge for Sanford. “That whole experience of driving around on the tractor and farming,” Sanford remembers, “was a real healing experience for me. There’s a strong energy out there. It’s very powerful and perhaps what drew me here in the first place.” Working together over handmade fermentors set up near the vineyard, Sanford and Benedict released their first wines in 1976. That same year, Richard met his future wife, Thekla, on a sailboat outing. “It was remarkable,” Richard chuckles. “I said, ‘Who is this person?’ We both said that at the same time. It was sort of an emotional connection that overcame us.” “Our connection, I think,” Thekla says, “was, and still is, our mutual love for nature.” Then she adds with a laugh, “My family had been in the beer business, in Milwaukee, so it was a beverage connection, too.” In 1981, Sanford and Benedict’s partnership dissolved, and though the Sanfords had invested a measure of their souls in the vineyard, they took a philosophical view and decided to forge ahead with a winery of their own. “I said we should let it go,” Thekla remembers, “because if [the vineyard] was meant to be a part of our lives again, it would happen. You need to disconnect at some point in order to move forward.” Without missing a beat, the Sanfords enlisted investors and founded Sanford Winery in 1981, making two vintages at Edna Valley Winery before moving to a converted warehouse in Buellton two years later. Just as producers from Napa began snapping up the lion’s share of Santa Barbara County’s wine grapes, the Sanfords bought 738 acres within the borders of Rancho el Jabalí and started planning for a new winery. “I saw the handwriting on the wall,” Richard says, “and I knew we weren’t going to be in business if we didn’t plant our own vineyards. That inspired me to plant La Rinconada Vineyard, a hundred and twenty acres of both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, adjoining Sanford & Benedict. “As we designed the new winery,” he adds, “it made sense to develop La Encantada Vineyard to have all three vineyards support the winery facility.”  In 1990, the Sanford & Benedict investors sold the vineyard and the new owner asked Richard to continue farming it. “I became the manager and bought the grapes,” Richard says with wonder. “It was the most amazing experience in letting go and then having it come back.” In 1999, wildlife biologist Nick Todd, who was raised in Solvang and a friend of Blakeney, the Sanfords’ 26-year-old daughter, was scouting for a potential release site for then-endangered peregrine falcons. “Lee Aulman, who’s my mentor and boss,” Todd explained, “has been running the falcon-release program since the ’80s and he told me they needed a spot in the falcons’ historic range, so he could try to reoccupy their inland territory. “For some reason,” Todd continues, “I’d just been at a gathering at the winery and it occurred to me that I’d noticed some cliffs when I was there—our first release was that spring and we’ve released four or five birds every year since.” “We have a perfect hillside,” Richard smiles, “with a good westerly breeze and updraft, and an organic vineyard...I just got a letter from the Predatory Bird Research group in Santa Cruz, who monitor them, and they’ve seen some of our birds in Catalina, so we really feel like proud parents.” “One Christmas Day,” Thekla says, awed, “one was sitting on the fence right outside the kitchen window. I couldn’t believe it. I felt like it was my Christmas gift. “Another of our concerns” she remarks, “is providing nesting boxes for blue birds. We work with La Purisima Audubon Society and we’ve had great success. We see bluebirds everywhere now.” “Living in this area has been really important for that soulful connection,” Richard reflects on his years in the Valley. “We feel emotionally connected here. We’ve enjoyed a wonderful lifestyle and I think we all have a responsibility to protect our place and the Valley for future generations.” “It is a gift to be here,” Thekla agrees. “We are grateful for the opportunity to be stewards for our land during our lifetime.” “We’ve been in the same place for 35 years, doing the same thing,” Richard muses. “We just have to reinvent ourselves—again.” “I’m happy with the name of our new winery, Alma Rosa,” Thekla says with a smile. “The ‘camping out’ part in Buellton is going to be fun as we excitedly give birth to our next adventure. I’m excited, we’re heading down a new road. We’re much happier being in the new lane, going forward.” Friends and wine lovers can find Richard and Thekla Sanford “camping out” in high style at Alma Rosa Winery, at 201-C Industrial Way, Buellton, until they return to their tasting rooms on Rancho el Jabalí at 7250 Santa Rosa Road. For information about wines, availability, and tasting, call 688-9090, or email Richard or Thekla @almarosawinery.com. |
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Copyright 2005, Inside Santa Ynez Valley Magazine, All Rights Reserved |
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