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