Cottonwood Canyon
Cottonwood Canyon Vineyard & Winery is a boutique winery known for its handcrafted Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah. Established in 1988 by the Beko family, the winery is situated in Santa Maria Valley, on the northern edge of the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail within Santa Barbara County's wine country. Visitors are welcome to explore the 78-acre estate and sample the distinctively different, age-worthy wines produced there.
The key to crafting these unique, age-worthy wines lies in both the vineyard and the wine caves. The fruit is hand-harvested when it reaches slight tropical flavors, typically around 24 brix. The naturally high acidity of the fruit allows lees to remain in contact with the wine until bottling, enhancing flavor extraction while maintaining a balanced interplay between fruit, oak, and acidity.
The combination of the fruit's inherent high acidity and the controlled conditions of the wine caves results in wines with exceptional longevity. These wines evolve gradually over many years and achieve near perfection when aged between 8 to 12 years.