Foxen 2021 Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley

The Wine

The must was innoculated with intentionally selected strains of yeast (Assmanhausen & 3001) as the winemaker prefers the flavor profile of these strains over the natural yeasts from their area. The wine spent 10 months in neutral oak, then was racked to blend the various vineyard and clonal varieties into this final cuvee. The slight haziness of this wine is due to the intentional lack of fining or filtration, which would have removed some of the flavor and texture the winemaker wanted in this wine.  

SIP Certified (Sustainability In Practice).  13.6% ABV. Les than 2,000 cases produced.

The Winery

Foxen Winery is owned by Dick Dore and his life-time friend, Bill Wathen. Dick is the great grandsons of a sea captain named William Foxen, who purchased one of the Spanish land grants and named the 9,000 acres "Foxen Canyon". The anchor on every Foxen wine label is an homage to their great grandfather, who used the same image as a brand on his cattle.

For fans of the movie, Sideways, the old Foxen tasting room (the Shack) was used in the movie - it's where Jack and Stephanie began flirting. And, as with the rest of the Santa Barbara wine country, they have enjoyed a continuing surge in popularity during the past 20 years since the film came out. But it is not ONLY because they were shown in the film, which was forgotten long ago by most people - it's because the film brought to light the unique qualities of the region and its wines.

Today Foxen has expanded into a far, far larger facility that is fully solar powered. In fact, their new facility is sustainable in every way needed - a full 360 degree view - to pass the onerous SIP Certification process!