ming along Highway 101, their windshields catching glimpses of sunlight like flashes from a distant cam- era. Carr, Paredon’s vineyard manager, notes that the hot houses where the orchids grow off the highway can be seen from the vineyard and they “glow at night,” producing an ethereal effect. You’d think that any vineyard that sits at 1,200 feet


above sea level wouldn’t need much protection from the elements, least of all from a small ridge buffering it from the Pacific Ocean. But Paredon has numerous inherent potential hazards including weird weather and Pierce’s disease: a vine louse that can kill a vineyard before you know it’s sick. “It’s been a real challenge. We could easily lose the


entire vineyard,” Carr says. Morales knew these constraints when he purchased


the property, but instead focuses on the positives. “With Ryan’s vision and enthusiasm, we’ll keep mak- ing great wine.” “The vineyard is all organic,” Carr says, “we don’t


use herbicides or pesticides, and if we do, we go organically.” Due to the steep hillside terracing of the vineyard,


all the fruit is hand harvested, which is time consum- ing and expensive. Mold and mildew from excessive moisture (the 2005 vintage was totally scrapped because of the rains) are not the only problems that haunt the vineyards. Peacocks and even a few bears have been known to claim the area for themselves. “We have clay loam soils with some sandstone,”


Carr says, “there’s good water retention and drain- age.” The vineyard yields about 2 tons of fruit per acre.


Many vineyards produce between 6 to 8 tons of fruit per acre, but exceptional quality means you drop fruit to encourage the vines to put their energy into the remaining berries, which in turn soak up nutrients and flavor. “We thin our fruit for quality,” Carr says, “only the


best of the best gets in the bottle.” “We get this reflection right off the ocean and it


hits the vines,” he says. “Think about it, if you lay out in your backyard compared to lying out at the beach, where do you get the sunburn?” Even at Carpinteria’s elevation, the ocean reflects


heat directly onto the vines, speeding up the ripening process. “It’s like holding a mirror in front of a plant;


ABOVE, barrels of Paredon wine. The Paredon syrah and grenache grapes are turned into wine at Carr Winery in Santa Barbara.


SPRINgSuMMER2008 77


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118