| Producer | The Ojai Vineyard |
| Country | United States |
| Region | Santa Barbara County |
| Varietal | Riesling |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Sku | 16784 |
| Size | 750ml |
TASTING NOTE
In the 2022 vintage Kick On Ranch gave us the materials for dry Riesling with wildly original character. This wine tends to be flashy and loud when it’s young. This bottling is even more so, thanks to some botrytis influence. Kick On’s consistent zesty citrus and minerality is there, so are the effusive floral scents of ginger blossoms and plumeria. The botrytis lent a warmer hued essence than usual, though. More apricot than green plum, more grapefruit than lime. Honey is there in a delicate way, too. The wine hits the palate with a nectarous blast chased by racy acidity, then hints of ginger along with fine mineral grit.
Even just a few years ago, customers coming into our tasting room were reticent towards Riesling. Now a lot of people have realized what a great thing dry Riesling is to break out of a Sauvignon Blanc rut, and we love it.
VINTAGE & WINEMAKING
The 2022 vintage gave us an unforgettable crop of Riesling from Kick On Ranch. This was a hot vintage, but that’s always a relative thing at this super-coastal vineyard. After the early September heat an early storm dropped a couple of inches of rain. Afterward we captured a special gift—botrytis (aka “noble rot”). It was widespread in our rows, but not so set in that it dessicated the grapes and drove sugars up meaningfully. We pressed half the crop immediately, while the other half got overnight skin contact. After settling the juice overnight we racked it to neutral French oak barrels and inoculated with our house-cultured native yeast, then we stirred daily until the wine was dry. We blocked malolactic fermentation with just enough sulfites. Then wine remained on its lees until being racked before bottling, with gentle fining and filtration just before.
VINEYARD
Kick On Ranch is a few miles West of Los Alamos, halfway toward Vandenberg Air Force Base. The site is planted on rolling sand dunes and swales just a few miles from the Pacific. This place is right in the middle of the narrow East-West valley, making for a corridor that pinches the cool westerly winds through here, so it’s one windy and often foggy environment. Riesling ripens especially gradually in this terroir. These grapes are the last white fruit we harvest, and they come in with terrific acidity and thick snappy skins with loads of phenolic development. There’s a powerful site character here, yet it’s delightful how each vintage shows a unique stance at the same time.
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