Though working since 2011 for Zaca Mesa Winery — which is home to the Santa Barbara County’s first syrah and focused mostly on varieties from that grape’s Rhône Valley home — winemaker Kristin Bryden quietly crafts some of the better pinot noir and chardonnay in the region. Packaged for years under the Zaca Mesa label without extra fanfare, these Burgundian bottlings are no longer just insider intel. Last week, Zaca Mesa announced the launch of Tread Wines, a new brand to prominently showcase Bryden’s beauties, complete with its own special tasting lounge on the estate property on Foxen Canyon Road.
“It really just started as a genuine love for Santa Barbara County as a region,” said Bryden of her exploration of these grapes, which started at Zaca Mesa in 2013.
There’s an emotional tie, too, for pinot and chardonnay were her introduction to Santa Barbara nearly two decades years ago, when the Redding-raised Cal Poly grad started her career at Wild Horse Winery in Paso Robles, under the tutelage of Ken Volk. “When I smell pinot noir from Santa Barbara County, there’s this nostalgic feeling of the first time in a cellar,” she said. “I put my nose in the glass, and it takes me back to that first experience.”