I first discovered the rural wonders of Jalama Cañon Ranch almost a decade ago. I was searching for a place to host my good buddy’s bachelor party and found a private ranch for rent with cabins, big barbecue, horseshoe pits, and trails that traversed about a thousand acres of mountainous, oak-studded terrain off Jalama Road near Highway 1. Only when our crew rolled in did I notice the spindly grapevines clinging to a steep hillside, and my fascination deepened.
Earlier this year, I returned to the ranch to meet with co-owner Wayne Siemens, one of Santa Barbara’s self-made developer kings, and General Manager Kiah Jordan, who’s been Siemens’s right-hand man for a dozen years. Though Jalama Cañon Ranch doesn’t really host the sort of rough-and-tumble parties that I throw anymore — it’s mainly for upscale weddings now — Siemens and Jordan are very proud of the wines that have emerged from those grapevines.
Bottling under the JCR Vineyard brand, they release a smattering of pinot noirs and one chardonnay each vintage (plus a rosé in 2016) — altogether about 700 or so cases a year. It’s all grown on the five and a half acres of south-facing hillside that overlooks the cabins, roving goats, and wooden barn of the property’s central valley. Located about five miles due north of Point Conception and to the southwest of the already very coastal Sta. Rita Hills appellation, the vineyard enjoys a climate of its very own. “All of the terroir is so unique,” said Jordan, explaining that it gets both cooler and hotter than a typical day in the Sta. Rita Hills. “We have more extremes.”
