Winemaking

The winemaking process starts by hand selection of quality grapes and choosing the optimized harvesting conditions. The wonderful and mostly predictable weather in the Santa Ynez Valley lends itself to wonderful fruit ripening.
Meadowlark Vineyards is located in the warm (Region II), eastern portion of the Santa Ynez Valley and proud to be in the newly designated Los Olivos District AVA (American Viticultural Area). This region has the ideal climate and soil types for Bordeaux and Rhone varietals. A truly unique microclimate exists at Meadowlark Vineyards. Being adjacent to the Santa Ynez River provides very cool mornings and evenings that allows for prolonged fruit maturation on the vines. Less than a handful of vineyards in the Los Olivos District are adjacent to this truly unique microclimate along the Santa Ynez River. All grapes are hand-harvested to ensure the production of a premium wine.
Meadowlark Vineyard’s wine making process is conducted in a controlled temperature facility. Old World winemaking methods such as hand-harvesting and small-barrel aging in French oak is used for all wines. Extraction of the most wonderful aromas, taste and color from grapes is accomplished by gentle processing and pressing techniques. Primary fermentation is carried out in small, 1 to 2 ton, open vats that allow for easy and frequent punch downs. After gentle pressing, wine is transferred to American and French oak barrels for a minimum period of 12 months. In the final stage of aging, only the best barrels are selected for final bottling. Our wines are unfiltered and after bottling wine is further aged for a minimum of 10 months prior to release.
All wines produced are of limited production. Being a truly boutique product, only Wine Club members will have access to all wines. Join our Wine Club now to ensure first choice of unique wine selections and to receive periodic updates on wines from Meadowlark Vineyards.