Vineyards

Our Vineyards

Discover the heart of Santa Barbara Wine Country through our vineyards. Explore the unique terroir that nurtures our low-intervention wines.
We believe that the most balanced (and thus memorable) wines are made from fruit that is picked relatively early on the harvest calendar, the end result being a wine that is livelier on the palate, deeper in complexity, lower in alcohol, and more worthy of cellaring.
Shop Lumen Wines from Wild King Vineyard:
⇒ Coming in 2023 (join the club to ensure availability)

WILD KING VINEYARD

Wild King Vineyard lies immediately to the east of Solomon Hills Vineyard and to the west of The Warner Henry Vineyard and Presqu’ile Vineyard, and is the first producing estate vineyard of Lumen. The vineyard was planted by Doug King in 2007, entirely to Pinot Noir. The soils are sand which runs very deep, consisting mostly of the ‘Marina Formation,’ which is a reddish sand that was once a beachside sand dune. During the growing season, mornings are generally foggy and cold, followed by breezy afternoons that keep temperatures down and serve to air-dry the fruit.

Will Henry began harvesting fruit from the Wild King in 2021, when he discovered that the vines were left untended for an entire year – no pruning, no spray, no water – no farming at all. The fruit, defying all logic, was some of the best that Lumen has ever seen. We made two wines from the Wild King that year: Pinot Noir Wild King Vineyard, and The Mad King. The former will be released in 2023, and the latter in 2024. The vineyard became ours later that year, and will be a main fruit source for us going forward. The farming is zero-intervention organic, and dry-farmed.

WARNER HENRY VINEYARD

The Warner Henry Vineyard was planted in 2021, and was named after Will’s late father, the wine-industry legend who founded The Henry Wine Group in the 1980’s. This five-acre, hilltop vineyard site lies directly between Presqu’ile Vineyard and Lumen’s Wild King Vineyard. The soils are deep sand, consisting of both the Marina Formation and Arnold Formation. The climate is very cool, with cold, foggy mornings and windy afternoons. The farming is organic.

The vineyard was planted almost entirely to Pinot Noir, consisting of the following clones: 667, 115, Mt Eden, 23 and 828. More than half of the vineyard is own-rooted. In 2022, Will planted about an acre of Ruché, after a visit from old friend Randall Grahm, who suggested the future success of the varietal. Randall told Will, “Ruché tastes as though Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo had sex,” and a few months later, the vines went into the ground. To get on the list to purchase wines from The Warner Henry Vineyard, Join the Lumen Wine Club. (photo by Len Wood)
Shop Lumen Wines from The Warner Henry Vineyard:
⇒ Coming in 2023 (join the club to ensure availability)

Other Vineyards We Source From:

We believe that the most balanced (and thus memorable) wines are made from fruit that is picked relatively early on the harvest calendar, the end result being a wine that is livelier on the palate, deeper in complexity, lower in alcohol, and more worthy of cellaring.
SIERRA MADRE VINEYARD
Shop Lumen Wines from Sierra Madre Vineyard:
⇒ 2021 Pinot Gris
⇒ 2021 Escence
⇒ 2018 Pinot Noir – Sierra Madre Vineyard

SIERRA MADRE VINEYARD

Our primary vineyard site in the Santa Maria Valley, Sierra Madre remains one of the valley’s closest plantings to the cool waters of the Pacific Ocean. With sandy soils and gentle slopes, it is planted primarily to Pinot Noir, with smaller amounts of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. Planted in 1971 and owned for a period of time by the Mondavi family, it remains one of the oldest vineyard sites in the region. Its fruit is purchased by many well-known wineries such as Au Bon Climat, Byron, Hitching Post, Ken Brown, Kenneth Volk, Paul Lato, and Wild Horse.

Sierra Madre has been Lane’s favorite vineyard since the 1980’s, when she began making single vineyard Pinot Noir under the Hitching Post label. Lane’s intimate knowledge of the best blocks and clones has been a godsend; no one knows the intricacies of this fickle vineyard better than she. We source Pinot Noir clones 667 and 777 from their best blocks, as well as Chardonnay and Pinot Gris from their steep, north-facing hillsides. The vineyard is SIP-certified sustainable.

RANCHO REAL VINEYARD

Our newest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyard source, Rancho Real lies just to the west of Presqu’ile Vineyard, and just southward of Solomon Hills Vineyard. Its steep hillside plantings can be seen from Highway 101 just south of the city of Santa Maria. With sandy soils and close proximity to the ocean, it is a premium site for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay – which is exactly why we chose it.

Lane is particularly excited by the block of Swan clone Pinot Noir, which is located at the top of the vineyard. We are the only winemakers that have contracted the fruit from this block, and it is stunning. Look out for the 2020 Rancho Real Pinot Noir, which is 100% Swan. The vineyard is SIP-certified sustainable.
Shop Lumen Wines from Rancho Real Vineyard:
⇒ 2021 Chardonnay Santa Maria Valley
PRESQU'ILE VINEYARD
Shop Lumen Wines from Presqu’ile Vineyard:
⇒ 2018 Pinot Noir – Presqu’ile Vineyard

PRESQU'ILE VINEYARD

Presqu’ile Vineyard is located just two miles south of Sierra Madre near the town of Orcutt, on the western side of the Santa Maria Valley. Planted in 2009 by the Murphy family, it is quickly becoming known for its distinctive Pinot Noirs. With deep sandy soils and rolling hills, in combination with the region’s typically cool climate, the vineyard has become a fast favorite of many of the area’s top winemakers, including Ernst Storm and Drake Whitcraft.

We currently source only Pinot Noir clone 667 from this prestigious site. The wines are more masculine in style, with deep color and fruit flavors that are accented by spice and savory notes. Presqu’ile has been SIP-certified sustainable since its inception.

SANFORD & BENEDICT VINEYARD

One of the most iconic vineyards in our region, S&B was planted in 1971 by Richard Sanford and Michael Benedict, who were searching what was then a completely unknown wine-growing region, hoping to find a climate in California that could produce world-class Pinot Noir. This was a daunting task indeed. Their first commercial release in 1976 blew the socks off the critics, and spurred an entire movement, not to mention one of the best-known AVA’s in our state: the Santa Rita Hills.

Will’s father Warner recalls tasting the 1976 vintage, with a young (and nervous) Richard Sanford, at a gathering of the Chevaliers de Tastevin in Los Angeles. The Burg Hounds swirled and sipped, and there was a collective silence, before one of the most senior members exclaimed, “Son of a bitch.” For the first time in history (perhaps), the Burg Hounds realized that a California Pinot Noir could rival a great Burgundy. Lane and Will still think that is true.
SANFORD & BENEDICT VINEYARD
Shop Lumen Wines from Sanford & Benedict Vineyard:
⇒ 2018 Pinot Noir – Sanford & Benedict Vineyard
MARTIAN RANCH
Shop Lumen Wines from Martian Vineyard:
⇒ 2017 Grenache – Martian Ranch
⇒ 2020 Grenache – Santa Barbara County

MARTIAN RANCH

Martian Ranch is located in Alisos Canyon, close to the town of Los Alamos (and hence to Lumen’s tasting room and Pico Restaurant in the Los Alamos General Store). The Los Alamos Valley boasts slightly warmer days and cooler nights than the nearby Santa Maria Valley, and for this reason has been planted predominantly to Rhone varietals.

This small, 20-acre site is the source of our Grenache fruit. This hillside vineyard is biodynamically farmed, and yields are carefully controlled to give the wines added depth, concentration, and character.

JULIA'S VINEYARD

Julia’s Vineyard was planted in 1971 by Louis Lucas as part of the original Rancho Sisquoc planting. Today these gnarled, own-rooted vines are the only surviving remnants of Louis’ original planting. Lane began sourcing from Julia’s in the early 1990’s, and the results were stunning. Her wines from this decade are still showing bright and beautiful.

These 50-year-old vines are still thriving despite their advanced age, and producing some of the best Pinot Noir fruit in the Santa Maria Valley. The vineyard is now owned by the Jackson Family and is part of the Cambria Winery complex, lying on the northern bank of the Sisquoc River, with soils of sandy loam. The vineyard is SIP-certified sustainable.
JULIA'S VINEYARD
Shop Lumen Wines from Julia’s Vineyard:
⇒ 2019 Pinot Noir – Julia’s Vineyard

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