When you drink a Fiddlehead Cellars wine, you’ll notice the harmony that blends together acidity, oak and fruit, with no extreme presence of one that completely overshadows the other characteristics. This liquid excellence is brought to us by Fiddlehead Cellars proprietor Kathy Joseph who I recently had the pleasure to taste with through an abundance of her superb wines. Trailblazer, tenacious, and exceptional winemaker are just a few of the impressions I left the tasting with, along with tastebuds full of delight. If you haven’t had a Fiddlehead Cellars wine yet make sure to keep reading as I’m going to give you plenty of reasons why you should.

Fiddlestix Vineyard

Great wines start with a great vines and Fiddlestix Vineyard is no exception. Kathy planted her estate vineyard in 1996 prior to the Sta. Rita Hills appellation being approved and before the movie Sideways attracted worldwide attention to the region. Almost 100 acres are planted currently to Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, and Grüner Veltliner on soil mixtures of clay loam, chert and Monterey shale. One of Kathy’s new endeavors in the vineyard is the development of a permanent cover crop between vine rows. This can protect against soil erosion and help raise organic matter which will increase the water holding capacity of the soil, a vital resource during the hot and dry summer months. Kathy’s tight control for achieving and maintaining high quality has made her vineyard quite popular with great local wineries such as Dragonette, Rusack, Hitching Post and Jonata all previously buying fruit.

We tasted at the winery through vigorous gusts of wind that Kathy explained are constant from early to late afternoon. At her estate vineyard in the southern portion of the Sta. Rita Hills wind is viewed more as a friend as it is usually not strong enough to cause consistent problems with fruit set as much as the northern portion of the region or like in the Santa Lucia Highlands where it often reduces yields. The Sta. Rita Hills wind can also aid vineyard managers by lowering pest problems and humidity by reducing the moisture left over by the persistent morning fog here.

Kathy credits her success in the wine industry from receiving great mentorship from Alexander Valley pioneer and longtime Simi winemaker Zelma Long. Zelma imparted the importance of marrying site to character to Kathy along with the importance of details and the art of working in a wine cellar. The future for her beloved Sta. Rita Hills region will remain bright as she is enthusiastic to impart the knowledge she has learned to the next generation, remarking that, “I enjoy helping new winemakers finding their path.” Later while we were discussing the numerous variety of oak treatments she uses compared to other winemakers, Kathy had this advice for young winemakers, “Find the barrel your wine likes.” I asked Kathy for some adjectives that would describe her own winemaking style and she replied with age-ability, texture, finish, and balance. I would like to offer a fourth description, delicious!

Fiddlehead Cellars Wine Tasting!

Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc at Fiddlehead Cellars is as beloved as Pinot Noir and receives just as much attention to detail during winemaking. The Happy Canyon Sauvignon Blanc is considered one of Kathy’s core wines and she affectionately refers to it as the “friend-maker.” With a delicious fruit profile, affordable price and gentle approachable acidity, this white wine is quite easy to make friends with. Vineyard sources here are from Volgelzang, well known for quality and McGinley which was one of the original vineyards for Westerly wines. Overall, her Sauvignon Blanc often uses 1/3rd each of new French oak, neutral oak barrels, and stainless-steel tanks with lees contact used for wine texture.

The 2014 Happy Canyon Sauvignon Blanc demonstrates the longevity of her Sauvignon Blanc and fights back against the perception that wine from this grape is best when opened young. A crisp color, clarity, and wonderful flavor will still be found when drinking an older vintage of Fiddlehead Cellars Sauvignon Blanc. Bright acidity is present here along with guava and papaya fruit and a green herbaceous and slight vegetal bitterness that actually complements the wine as a contrast while representing varietal character. The 2016 vintage is similar, having the green notes of the older vintage but with a creamier more round texture and body.

Next up is the 2019 Gooseberry Sauvignon Blanc which is youthful, vibrant, and aromatically stunning. Older vines from the Star Lane Vineyard provide spectacular tropical fruits here, leading with guava and mango. There is a tart and bitter element in the wine that Kathy describes and compares to a delicate sourness found in India Pale Ale beer. The wine loses some of the textural complexity found in the Happy Canyon version due to an all stainless-steel fermentation, no oak influence, and no malolactic fermentation but it more than makes up for it with its pronounced fragrance and lean mean and racy acidity quality. The next Sauvignon Blanc, the 2010 Hunnysuckle, is sourced from the finest pedigree the Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara has to offer, the Vogelzang, McGinley and Grassini Vineyards. Fermentation is done in barrel imparting a stark difference to the Goosebury wine with flavors and aromas of fresh split vanilla bean, custard, and crème brule along with a mouthcoating luxurious velvety palate. Usually around 100 cases are made of the Hunnysuckle and Kathy would recommend pairing with a poached egg salad or creamy pasta dish.

Grüner Veltliner

The majority of the wine drinking public hasn’t caught on to Grüner Veltliner yet, but Kathy is creating some great reasons why they should, dedicating 3 acres of her estate vineyard to the grape. The Santa Barbara wine community has taken notice of the potential of the grape as well, with wineries such as Spear, Story of Soil, Luna Hart, Habit and Tatomer all now offering an example for their customers. Kathy’s love of her family comes through on her Grüner Veltliner wines as the artwork on the labels is created by her sister. The 2015 Grüner Veltliner is light and refreshing with an underripe quince fruit quality. The 2016 vintage retained some ginger and lemongrass character which Kathy says pairs beautifully with matza ball soup. The 2015 Bebble Grüner Veltliner would be considered a reserve tier as Kathy chooses only select barrels to bottle under this label which is the nickname for Kathy’s mom and means little bean in Yiddish. Kathy’s father gave her mother this nickname and although he has since passed away, when a bottle of Bebble Grüner Veltliner is served at the family table Kathy states it’s like the family is complete again. For the first time a delicious late harvest sweet wine is also available from the winery and appropriately called ‘sweetie.’ The 2016 ‘sweetie’ is estate Grüner Veltliner that was allowed to hang on the vine for nearly an additional month, concentrating flavors of dried and candied apricot, juicy peach syrup, and honey while still containing a bright finish that Kathy describes as a zesty pink grapefruit kick.

Pinot Noir

On Fiddlehead Cellars most affordable Pinot Noir you’ll find the letters 728 which represents the location of the vineyard, located at mile marker 7.28 on Santa Rosa Road. It is displayed on the label to tie together vine to bottle for customers and made in a style that best captures Fiddlestix Vineyard as a whole. The 2014 728 Pinot Noir has blueberry fruit, spiced leather, cola, and cinnamon spice. The 2015 vintage was similar but with a slight less refinement that will come with an additional year in bottle according to Kathy. Next on the tasting was three vintages of Lollapalooza Pinot Noir which takes its name from the ability to impress or wow. Although there is a difference in pricing between the 728 and Lollapalooza there is no difference in the grape growing or winemaking techniques used. Only the barrels that are a cut above with a seamless union of flavors are chosen each year to be labeled under the Lollapalooza and Burtie Baby labels. The 2011 vintage was remarkably fresh and vibrant with cinnamon spice notes. The 2012 vintage had more weight with dark blackberry fruit, vanilla and a brûlée sugar aroma. The 2013 vintage was black fruited as well with cola notes, spice aromas and an overall silky presence.

Although they are the same price, the 2013 Burtie Baby Pinot Noir is an even more limited selection of just seven barrels and takes its name from Kathy’s father’s nickname. While you could analyze this wine and all its ripe complex fruit character and supple tannic structure, the best thing to actually do is just enjoy the wide smile it puts on your face. My favorite of all the Pinot Noir wines was the 20 case limited production 2013 Doyle Pinot Noir, which is named for Kathy’s husband. Kathy describes this wine as simply the best and I couldn’t explain it any better than that. Powerful and concentrated with a youthful aromatic intensity for an almost 8-year-old wine. If having soon to this date make sure to serve with at least an hour decant to begin to release its complexity. Better yet would be to give this wine another 5 years of bottle age if you’re patient enough as it is worthy of long-term aging in cellars. Truly one of the best wines you could ask for from the Sta. Rita Hills!

After many work experiences with wine buying responsibilities, I like to believe that I have impartiality when tasting with winemakers. When tasting with Kathy I quickly learned this is next to impossible. There is simply too much to enjoy about the wines and the person who has dedicated so much of her life into crafting them. Hopefully what was written here compares a small amount to the devotion that goes into Kathy’s winemaking, as a glass of Fiddlehead Cellars wine is hard thing to measure up to.