On a typical bluebird day in Ojai, Kay Wilson pads along the terra-cotta tiles of her rancho home to the sunny, south-facing patio. In front of her, past the pool, is a smattering of syrah vines. To her left and far above are the towering Topatopa Mountains and the iconic Chief Peak. This behemoth of a mountain, said to have been shaped by the gods to an image of a legendary chief looking to the sky, has shaped Wilson’s relationship with her daughter Claire through their boutique wine project, Est Ouest Wine Co. The label’s wines should be on every local drinker’s radar. You just have to find them and uncork their stories. Last week, I heard some from Claire at her day job in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto.
There are Chumash myths. Matilija poppies. The pink moment. A lone vineyard just outside town with few others for miles. If it sounds a little woo-woo, well, this is Ojai. Here at the Wilsons’ Chief Peak Vineyard, the nebulous origins of which Kay and Claire are still unearthing, Est Ouest (“eh tooehst,” French for "east-west") skillfully taps the same transverse ranges that open to the sea and the same fresh energy that defines Santa Barbara County wines. But there’s no vortex setting this in motion. From growing and fermenting the grapes –– “We didn’t really know what we were doing at first,” Claire said humbly — to bottling, labeling, and selling the wine by hand, the Wilsons do pretty much all the work themselves.
They got into the wine business when Claire was just old enough to stomp grapes at crush. A skilled chef, nutritionist, and dietician, Kay, with Claire, left Texas for Napa, bought a one-acre parcel of old vine zinfandel in the mid-'90s and took classes at Napa Valley Junior College to learn how to farm it. She sold grapes to reputable wineries, even replanting the zinfandel to more commercially viable petit verdot, and the two made a little of their own wine at home. Their modest success, and fun, was lost on Claire. “[Back then,] I didn’t think I wanted to be in the wine industry. My mom would force me to accompany her in the vineyard, and I would trudge around,” she laughed.