THE CHESTERFIELDS

David and Linda Chesterfield’s Santa Barbara winery Chesterfield Cellars is the newest darling of California’s Central Coast. Their story begins back in 1972, when David Chesterfield was a business student at Indiana University in Bloomington and one of his electives was a wine appreciation course - it instilled in him an incredible interest in the intricacies of wineries and winemaking. After graduating and moving to California, Chesterfield explored the developing wine country and even traveled throughout France where he spent some inspirational time in Bordeaux with wine guru, Alex Lichine.

Back in California, Chesterfield met his bride-to-be, Linda Stark who shared his passion for the wine business and the two became determined to one day owning a winery of their own where they could produce the type of wines they truly enjoyed. By 2005, the pair finally decided to do something about their long-term love affair with the grape. The Chesterfields enlisted the help of good friend Andrew Murray (the San Francisco Chronicle calls him the Central Coast’s ‘wine whiz kid’) who agreed to help source and make the wines for the newly formed Chesterfield Cellars. Murray’s resume was world class and gave the Chesterfields a real shot at success. Now presenting their inaugural releases, and already collecting impressive critical acclaim, David and Linda’s Chesterfield Cellars joins the upper echelon wineries of Santa Barbara and is destined for great success.

ABOUT THE REGION

SANTA YNEZ - Santa Ynez Valley is a long, east-west corridor with very cool temperatures on the coast that become progressively warmer inland. Consequently, several varietals do well, from Pinot Noir in the west to Cabernet and Merlot in the east. Several Rhône and Italian grape varietals have also gained acclaim in this versatile Santa Barbara County AVA.

The largest concentration of Santa Barbara wineries is within the Santa Ynez Valley appellation. From one-person labors of love to multi-thousand case operations, each has a dedication to producing wine that truly reflects the high quality and broad diversity of local grapes.

SANTA RITA HILLS - Santa Rita Hills is actually within the Santa Ynez Valley appellation, although its unique soils and climate distinguish the grapes grown there from the ones in the warmer vineyards to the east. A typical day in Santa Rita Hills starts with marine layer clouds and fog, which burn off by mid-morning; there is then two or three hours of calm sunshine until the on-shore winds pick up, cooling things down again. This maritime influence, combined with the sedimentary soils with patches of limestone is the perfect place to grow the appellation’s hallmark Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The region continues to innovate with progressive farming techniques, supplying fruit used to produce highly stylized and structured wines. The Santa Rita Hills appellation includes about 1700 planted acres within a 10 square mile area and it is located between the towns of Buellton and Lompoc, California.