2014 Sanguis The Hat-trick

Sanguis is an urban winery in Santa Barbara. It was founded by Matthias Pippig and his wife Jamie Kinser, and the couple source grapes from the Santa Rita Hills, Alisos Canyon and the hills east of Santa Maria. A native of Germany who is a food-industry marketing consultant when he’s not making wine, Pippig has been compared to his friend and one-time restaurant colleague Manfred Krankl, the dynamo behind Sine Qua Non. Like Krankl, Pippig creates blends with exuberant names and makes his own labels. He also decries the current “non-interventionist” trend in winemaking, having told more than one interviewer that the winemaker’s job is precisely about creating fine wines through closely monitored winemaking. Wine Advocate calls Sanguis wines “impeccably made…In addition, they also age gracefully. While the bulk of the lineup is red, don’t miss his whites! They’re rich and full-bodied, but unique, awesomely pure and focused.”

Central Coast AVA is a huge wine producing area that extends from Santa Barbara County in the south to San Francisco in the north. With more than 100,000 vineyard acres, it includes parts of six counties near the Pacific Ocean. Nearly 20 smaller AVAs lie within the Central Coast AVA. Central Coast earned appellation status in 1985. Included in the appellation are parts of the counties of Contra Costa, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz. Nearly every grape varietal grown in California is grown somewhere in the Central Coast AVA, though Chardonnay accounts for nearly 50% of the entire wine grape crop.