Dona Marcelinas

AVA
Santa Rita Hills
Decade
1880s
County
Santa Barbara
Current Owner
Deborah Hall
Location Notes

Highway 246 at Gypsy Canyon Drive

Historical Producers

Gypsy Canyon Vineyards and Winery

Characteristics

Ancient Vine Angelica, this is a rich, hedonistically
enjoyable wine, made from the Mission grape planted
by the Spanish missionaries. It’s very sweet and
decadent, with tangerine, pineapple and apricot-
infused creme brulee flavors and a generous coating of
spice that finishes in a honey-rich mouth feel.

Description

We discovered this vineyard in 1998 when we were cleaning up the property to plant our Pinot Noir, the vines were hidden in the sage, had not been farmed in 70-80 years. We believe the farmer that planted them let them get over grown with weeds to hide them during prohibition. Over the next 3 years we carefully brought them back into production. Had them DNA tested at UC Davis which came back to be Mission. I knew the padres had the most experience with this grape so I turned to the archives library at the SB mission and found their winemaking notes and that the Angelica was by far everyone’s favorite back then.
Today, I make Ancient Vine Angelica a fortified dessert wine, release 50 cases a year in 375ml bottles at $130.00 retail. I have a wait list for allocation. The vines are head trained, spacing varies from 8- 10ft rows and 5-6 feet between the vines. We are farming it from the farmers view in 1887.

Submitted by
Deborah Hall
Certified