Gainey Vineyard & Winery, a historical Santa Ynez estate that showcases four generations of hard work, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
The home ranch, located on Highway 246 just east of the Santa Ynez Airport, is named for the original ranch that’s been in the Gainey family for more than 60 years.
“My grandfather, Daniel C. Gainey, and father, Dan J. Gainey, acquired 1,800 acres of undeveloped land in 1963,” said Dan H. Gainey, who represents the third generation. He and his wife, Diane, have three children — Patrick, Morgan and Caitlin — who are the fourth generation, and each has namesake Gainey wines.
Gainey’s father and grandfather ran cattle and horses, and grew 600 acres of fruit, vegetables, flowers and hay, the younger Gainey told me when I toured the property with him late in May.
In 1984, Gainey’s father planted the property’s first 50 acres of vineyards, giving birth to Gainey Vineyard and becoming one of the region’s pioneering winemakers. The son joined the winery one year later. Following additional plantings through 2020, the home ranch vineyard now comprises 100 acres.
Joining us for the May excursion and tasting of current vintages were winemaker Jeff LeBard, estate manager Stephen Janes and publicist Sao Anash, whom I’ve known since 2005 — nearly as long as she’s been working with the Gainey family.
Two other vineyards, both in the Sta. Rita Hills, complete the portfolio of Gainey estate properties. They are the Evan’s Ranch and Rancho Esperanza sites. Evan’s Ranch, at 55 acres, grows pinot noir, chardonnay and syrah, and was planted in 1997 — four years before the AVA was established.
“While pinot noir and chardonnay were the obvious choice for Evan’s Ranch,” Gainey called syrah “a roll of the dice” because of the (cooler) Sta. Rita Hills weather.
“We planted small blocks out at Evan’s Ranch to see what excelled out there,” Gainey said. The result: “small vineyard gems with smaller production overall than with Gainey.”
Evan’s Ranch is located on the southwest edge of the famed AVA, and Rancho Esperanza lies farther northwest, Gainey said. Rancho Esperanza, at 45 acres, includes six clones of chardonnay and five of pinot noir, and was planted in 2009.
Evan’s Ranch wines are available for tasting in Los Olivos at the corner of Grand and Alamo Pintado avenues.
At the Santa Ynez home ranch, Gainey drove us from the tasting room through blocks of sauvignon blanc and a newer cabernet franc planting located just east of the tasting room and parking lot, steering the SUV over a two-track road toward the back acreage through waist-high mustard and prickly weeds.
The road led us to the ranch’s 1890s-era barn, home to a resident owl and a site for weddings and other special events.
Gainey’s production facility is located a distance from the tasting facility but amid rolling hills of vines planted to mostly Bordeaux and Rhone grape varietals.
Together, the larger Santa Ynez estate, Evan’s Ranch and Rancho Esperanza provide Gainey with wines ranging from pinot noir and chardonnay to syrah, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot, sauvignon blanc and a newer-to-me varietal, sauvignon gris.
“Merlot is our longtime variety here (at the home ranch). It’s a natural for this property,” Gainey said.
There are one-and-a-half acres of sauvignon gris producing with two more blocks in the ground but yet to come online. LeBard has blended it with the sauvignon blanc “for a few years,” creating a “Bordeaux Blanc” blend with a spicy profile and “more depth and texture” than a straight sauvignon blanc, he said.
The Gainey estate wines comprise the largest production (2022 Estate Pinot Noir, 1,560 cases, for example) and are mostly distributed to retail and restaurants.
The Gainey Limited Selection Estate wines are mostly fewer than 1,000 cases each, and range from the 2023 Limited Sauvignon Blanc, a delicious blend of 87% sauvignon blanc and 13% sauvignon gris. Across the board, the limited selection wines see more time in barrel and are vineyard-or-appellation specific, meaning from either both Sta. Rita Hills vineyards or the Santa Ynez site.
We tasted a barrel of 2022 Patrick’s Vineyard Selection Estate cabernet sauvignon, the first vintage to contain a percentage of cabernet franc. The 2021 vintage is blended with merlot and petit verdot and packs a long, elegant finish.
We tasted three of the six of the Evan’s Ranch lineup, all from 2022 — the Caitlin’s Vineyard Estate Chardonnay, Morgan’s Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir and the Lone Oak Vineyard Estate Syrah. All three hail from the Sta. Rita Hills vineyards and yield fewer than 400 cases each.
LeBard, who started at Gainey in 2007, co-ferments viognier with syrah for the Lone Oak; the wine contains 8% viognier.
“When it works, it works,” he said, referring to how the two grapes balance out each other.
Gainey is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with tasting offered at the main bar. Several patios and a lawn contain tables with seating.
Estate manager Janes plans to relaunch Gainey’s concert series with four shows from June through October. Click here for more information.
