Deliciosa : An Ideal Climate and a Master Hand Contribute to a Most Unusual Wine

WHEN EXPLORER Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed by the Santa Barbara Channel Islands in 1542, he found a region of enchanting beauty. In his journals, he noted that the surrounding climate was deliciosa .

That distinctive climate has appealed not only to explorers and settlers but also to wine makers. The Santa Ynez Valley climat --a Burgundian wine term that encompasses a vine-growing district’s endowments, including the weather, the soil and how the land is exposed to the wind, rain and sun--is ideal. The coastal mountains northwest of the city run not on a north-south axis, but from east to west, and the Pacific Ocean’s cooling breezes flow along them.

Wine has been made for sacramental and social purposes in Santa Barbara since the 1800s, but commercial wine making did not begin until 1962. That was when Pierre Lafond, who heads several diverse operations in Santa Barbara, from delicatessens to fashion, founded the Santa Barbara Winery.

Lafond calls himself an “accidental wine maker” because he is an architect “by training and choice.” But he was inspired to take on a struggling wine shop, buy grapes and make various fruit wines. He eventually converted the business into a successful winery. And he no longer needs to buy his grapes because, in 1972, he planted the Lafond Vineyards along the banks of the lower Santa Ynez River.

And in 1981, another inspiration struck Lafond when he hired Bruce McGuire as wine maker. Since then, the winery has achieved gold-medal distinction.

At a recent tasting with McGuire, I found the 1987 Santa Ynez Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($8) sensational--but not because of the 10% Semillon, a taming factor, in the blending.

The secret is in a growing process called leaf stripping: Parts of the vines are stripped of leaves, and the sun-tanned clusters of grapes produce a Sauvignon Blanc with almost spicy, fresh-lime suggestions in the taste. To add a buttery richness, McGuire puts half of the wine through malolactic fermentation and seven months on the yeast lees. The Sauvignon Blanc is not to be missed. An even richer edition, a Reserve ($11), will be available May 1.

For a most unusual wine, the 1987 Santa Ynez Valley Dry Chenin Blanc ($7) is one to try. It is rich and has a toastiness from being on the yeast lees.

McGuire, 33, was one of the first wine makers in the state to employ the technique of leaf pulling. “This improves color,” he says, “reduces the malic acid and produces riper fruit flavors.”

The wine is 100% barrel-fermented to dryness in French oak puncheons and is aged on the yeast lees for six months. Thirty percent of it undergoes malolactic fermentation, which gives the wine a rich middle-palate sensation where the taste buds would ordinarily identify sweetness. Try this wine on your Chardonnay-loving friends.

Another wine we tasted was the 1987 Santa Ynez Valley Chardonnay ($10). Its bouquet is reticent, but the fruit intensity comes through like a star emerging through velour drapes.

The 1987 Late Harvest Santa Ynez Valley Zinfandel Essence (tenths, $15) is worth a journey to the winery. The wine is made from foot-stomped, botrytised berries, and it’s a honey-sweet liquid bronze nectar. Deliciosa .