Nearly a century and a half after Lompoc was founded as a Temperance Colony in 1874, a Lompoc native opted to launch his wine brand with a nod to the Prohibition era.
Justin Charbonneau founded Temperance Cellars in 2012 to pay homage to Lompoc’s humble — and short-lived — beginnings as an abstinence community. When Lompoc became incorporated as a city in 1888, all of the Temperance laws were dissolved.
Charbonneau keeps a placard in his winery with details about the Temperance movement.
Ironically, “the founders of Lompoc would unwittingly choose a site for their town that later would become the heart of the Sta. Rita Hills wine country; Lompoc would earn fame and prosperity for the very beverage it was founded against: alcohol,” it states.
While still a student at Lompoc High School in 1999, Charbonneau worked at Kings Furniture.
“During a delivery out on Santa Rosa Road, I first saw the vineyards planted out there,” he recalled. Along with others who grew up in Lompoc, “I have observed the growth of Lompoc’s wine region.”
In May, I tasted through his wines with Charbonneau. Total case production for Temperance is just 500 cases per year; current vintages include a pinot noir, syrah, merlot, a red Rhone blend called Moderation, and an albarino (“sauvignon blanc’s sexy Spanish cousin” is how he describes the crisp white for those unfamiliar with it).
The first we tasted was Temperance’s 2018 pinot noir from Rancho La Vina vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills, which earned a 94-point score from Wine Enthusiast, Charbonneau noted.
For about two years, Temperance Cellars had a tasting room in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto, but Charbonneau has since closed it and now offers private tastings in the East Laurel Avenue production facility he shares with Dascomb Cellars.
Barrels and cases of wine are stacked toward the ceiling with winemaking machinery tucked into corners.
“People love the behind-the-scenes aspect of tasting in a winery,” he said.
Up next, we tasted his 2018 merlot from McGinley Vineyard in the Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA, a much warmer region that specializes in Bordeaux red and white grape varietals. This wine is on the menu at Solvang’s popular Peasants Feast restaurant, Charbonneau told me.
His classic merlot is also available at Good Land Wine Shop on upper State Street, where on Tuesday evenings the owner hosts winemaker nights that highlight some of the region’s smallest producers — such as Temperance Cellars. On July 2, Charbonneau will be the featured winemaker at Good Land Wine.
Charbonneau’s rich 2018 syrah is from Meadowlark Vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley. Meadowlark Road leads to a private subdivision with a handful of homes, some with small vineyards.
Meadowlark Vineyard is owned by Dr. Ramon Guerrero and his wife, Sandra. Guerrero is an anesthesiologist based in Texas who planted his family’s vineyard in 2002. Two of the Guerrero’s children, also both physicians, work for the family winery, according to Meadowlark’s website.
Charbonneau plans to participate in the “entire weekend” of Wine & Fire, which takes place this year from Thursday, Aug. 15, through Sunday, Aug. 18.
He attended UCSB and befriended Adam Camardella; they both studied music. Camardella also founded a wine label, Caella, and Charbonneau is Camardella’s winemaker.
Also, if two winemaking gigs weren’t enough, Charbonneau also works in the cellar at Lompoc’s Pali Wine Co. during harvest, he said.
Charbonneau, a 2000 graduate of Lompoc High School, married his high school sweetheart, Monica, and they are parents to two children, R.H., age 4, and Maggie, 2.
Temperance’s “Monica’s Rose” is made from syrah also sourced from Meadowlark Vineyard. Temperance Cellars’ tasting room is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday. It is located in the production facility at 1637 E. Laurel Ave. in Lompoc (behind 1625 and across Laurel from the Wine Ghetto). For more information, click here or call 805.757.3121.