For the Love of Wine
Four Santa Barbara County Winemakers Who Make Time for Passion Projects by Hana-Lee Sedgwick
Egg Salad Sandwich What to do with your beautiful onion-skin-dyed Easter eggs? First on the list must be a classic egg salad sandwich. You have many variations to choose from so you won’t get tired of them, even if you’ve made dozens of eggs. Makes 2 sandwiches
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here’s a growing community of winemakers in Santa Barbara who are doubling up on their duties, establishing their own labels and/or consulting on side projects they believe in while continuing their “day jobs” as winemakers. It seems as though being involved in more than one project is not only becoming common practice here in, it’s the norm. Whether they’re inspired by a certain grape, by a specific style or winemaking technique or by Santa Barbara County’s varied microclimates and the flexibility they have to explore different varieties here, these “passion projects” give winemakers a chance to experiment, grow and, in many cases, create something of their own. Individuals who fall under the title of “winemaker by day and winemaker by night” share one common thread: They do it because they love it. Here are four of their stories. 54 | EDIBLE SANTA BARBARA SPRING 2018
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped 2 tablespoons mayonnaise or 1 tablespoon mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon crème fraiche Salt and pepper, to taste
Additions: • A tablespoon of something crunchy, such as capers, chopped chopped pickledmorning vegetables,when chopped radishes chopped It’scelery, a sunny weekday I meet up or with Alison onion
Thomson for coffee at Handlebar’s newest location in Santa • A sprinkling chopped fresha herbs, such as parsley, basil, Barbara. I firstofmet Alison few years back while visiting cilantro, chervil or tarragon JCR Vineyards, where she happily works as winemaker and • A dash of somethingAlison, tangy, such lemon or lime juice,toorstudy the vineyard manager. whoasattended UCSB pickled juice or caper brine if you used either of those or a dash biology and Italian, first fell in love with wine while studying of white wine vinegar in Italy. Bread (sliced bread, baguette, bagel, roll, croissant or slider bun) “I lived in the center of the city of Siena, looking out over Additional and/or mustard olive grovesmayonnaise and churches… it was (optional) ridiculous,” she tells me. vegetables (optional) “IAdditional loved thepickled way food and wine were part of everyday life there. It was truly a magical experience.” Lettuce A few the years after college, seasoning while working part-time in a Combine eggs, mayonnaise, and additions and mix tasting room, Alison decided to pursue winemaking as until incorporated but with a still chunky texture. Taste and add her career. She or applied to ifUC Davis, where she went on to more seasoning additions needed. study viticulture. While there, she went back to Italy on a Create an open-faced or closed sandwich using additional student immersion experience and was introduced to the mayonnaise on each slice if you love mayonnaise—or just mustard, wines of Piedmont. or neither. Pickled vegetables make a great topping as well, such as a couple stalks of Pacific Pickle Works Asparagusto. — Krista Harris