The Lompoc "Wine Ghetto"

This past weekend, I re-visited the Lompoc "Wine Ghetto." As someone who loves to enjoy wine with food, I think the place has figured it out. This is not Sonoma, Napa, or Paso Robles...this is warehouse wine tasting. There is nothing pretty about going to Lompoc (although it is a nice 3 hour drive from LA along the coast). When you drive into the town, you realize how smart these wineries are. Low rent. Lots of space. And people are coming there to taste.

Lompoc is not a place I'd recommend for a romantic weekend getaway or a place to have your first wine tasting experience. It IS a place for adventure seekers, low key individuals who don't care about labels, and those of us who just want to experience something real.

Now, just to be clear, as a psychologist, I am not promoting wine as an addiction, only a passion, to be consumed in moderation and to be enjoyed with food and friends. I do not think anything to the extreme is healthy behavior (yes, even working out). So, before I go on, I just want to reiterate what this blog is about. It is about finding your joy through activities, concepts, work, sports, food, dance, surfing, whatever. I call this Foodie Therapy because sometimes yes, I do love the idea of food and wine and how it can bring a sense of joy. But it is also how you find your way in this world. It is about how you tackle difficulties, how you endure, and how you can be resilient in the face of disappointment. For me, it is a coping strategy, rather than run towards dysfunction or addiction, it is just as easy to gravitate towards self care. This blog is my way of sharing those small ways towards health, healing, and happiness.

Ok, back to the wine. I will rate the four spots we tasted at and share why...

Dragonette Cellars-A

Ampelos-B-

Samsara-B-

Flying Goat-B

When you go to Lompoc, the Wine Ghetto is broken into two areas. The first is where Dragonette Cellars and Ampelos share a warehouse and the other is where you will find a cluster of about 7 small tasting rooms, including Samsara, Flying Goat, Palmina, Fiddlehead Cellars, etc.

Each tasting experience is unique. Dragonette Cellars is unique because Brandon Sparks-Gillis, one of the three wine makers, actually remembers your name. Brandon and I met a few years back and we've stayed in touch by re connecting at various wine events, or just a quick email to ship a few bottles to LA. The wines from Dragonette are top notch. For the price point and variety, it rivals any from other regions. The line up right now includes a dry Rose, a Sauvignon Blanc, 2 single vineyard Pinots, a Syrah and a new Blend that is going to continue to improve with age.
If you are a Pinophile, then try the Cargasacchi-Jalama($38) or Fiddlehead ($45) single vineyard Pinots. Either would go well with anything from salmon to margarita pizza (the one at Gjelina is coming to mind) or well, it is so good it doesn't even need food. FYI-Dragnotte Cellars just opened a Los Olivos tasting room...that would be a more date friendly, romantic spot to taste.

We tasted at Ampelos Cellars next to Dragonnette. The wine maker and owner, was also the one pouring and explaining about the winery. Ampelos also has a large lineup and a solid variety of wines to choose from. That is the appeal of these two wineries being so close together. Ampelos also makes a bone dry Rose of Syrah, a Viogneir, 3 Pinots, 2 Syrah, and a vary strange tasting but interesting Dornfelder. Dornfelder is a wine usually made in Germany that is added to other wine to make a blend. Only a few wineries in California make a bottle of this wine. It is dark as night and has a nose of mint, herbs, green. It's not for everyone! Ampelos wines are good food wines as well. My favorite is the Lambda Pinot ($35) which is full of red fruits, such as cherry and spices like gingerbread. I have had it in the past as a Magnum for a b'day dinner and this is a fun wine to share with friends. Although I enjoy the wines, I did not enjoy the $15 tasting fee per person. Most places do not charge a fee when you buy wine and especially when you have 8 people tasting. Ampelos was more about money, explaining how they made their money than about the wine tasting experience. For that, I give them a B-.

The other two wineries we tasted at I will mention briefly. Samsara makes great Pinots and Syrah. If you know Melville Wines, Chad and Mary (the owners) split off to do a small side project of wines using grapes from sites such as Ampelos and Melville. These are a little fuller bodied Pinots with lots of fruit and some tannin.

Flying Goat is a project by Norm Yost. The best of his work in my opinion are his Pinots. He makes very light bodied wine and with notes of cola, cherry, spice, and light tannins. These are easy drinking food wines that can use a few years of aging to mellow out.

I think it is best to live by having your own experience, not just being told what is good or bad and what you should or should not do. When it comes to tasting wine in Lompoc, I can say that this is a place that is for the foodies...those of us who want to experience something different, something more personal when they taste. In Napa, the amount of places, can make it more like Disneyland than a place to go to learn about wine. In Lompoc, the winemakers are the ones doing the teaching, the sharing of wine they made with their own hands. It is personal and that feels right when it comes to connecting...the ultimate Foodie Therapy.

Dragonette Cellars

http://dragonettecellars.com/