Life at the Winery

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The Grape Escape: How Flooding and Excessive Rainfall Affect Grapevines

The Grape Escape: How Flooding and Excessive Rainfall Affect Grapevines

Flooding and excessive rainfall can have a significant impact on vineyards and grapevines, affecting soil health and nutrient absorption. The Sunstone Estate in California’s Santa Ynez Valley in one of these 100-year floods zones. Let’s explore the negative effects of heavy rains and how a healthy cover crop can prevent soil erosion and nutrient loss.

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Defining terroir

Defining terroir

Terroir (pronounced /terˈwär/) is a French term used widely in the wine industry and refers to the unique combination of environmental factors that give a particular place its distinctive character and flavor, such as soil, climate, and topography.

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Family Blends Collection

Family Blends Collection

FAMILY BLENDS COLLECTION

When the Rice family planted Sunstone’s 25-acre vineyard in 1990, they knew that good wine started with caring..

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A Vintage Journey

A Vintage Journey

A Friday day trip in September 1988, and a fortuitous turn on Refugio Road in Santa Ynez to locate a property, that we never found, started a fateful chain reaction of events which lead us down the sun colored path to the establishment of Sunstone Vineyards and Winery.

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