The Shooting Star Over Sta. Rita Hills: Kathy Joseph

Kathy Joseph has returned to her roots.

Last year the veteran Sta. Rita Hills winemaker sold the Fiddlestix estate vineyard she founded in 1998. For 25 years she nurtured it into a prime site for pinot noir and chardonnay on Santa Rosa Rd. in Lompoc. She insisted her future was still bright, the sale was not a retirement and that she’ll continue to make wines under the Fiddlehead label.

She drew on her intimate knowledge of the area and sourced her most recent bottling from La Presa Vineyard in Los Olivos. It’s where she got her start making sauvignon blanc. La Presa was planted in 1974 and has survived for nearly 50 years. It avoided being grafted over to one of the Santa Ynez Valley’s more popular varieties like pinot noir, chardonnay or syrah and Joseph said the fruit is “extraordinary.”

“We’ve got to Keep things vibrant and on the edge, especially as small growers.”

-Fiddlehead owner and winemaker Kathy Joseph 

“This is where it all started,” Joseph said. “I made this wine and wanted a new release to showcase what the vineyard was all about. I’ll release it young and fresh, it’s a ‘22 and was fermented in all stainless steel. It’s very vibrant and had a little different structure than what I made previously. “

Located 30 miles from the heart of the Sta. Rita Hills, where Joseph carved out a legendary career as a wine grape grower and winemaker, La Presa is 15 miles south of Los Olivos. She said it’s actually closer to Solvang and “back in the hills off Route 246.”

The vines were planted before there was even an AVA designation.

“There are these gnarly looking trunks,” Joseph said. “It’s produced gorgeous sauvignon blanc clusters. The vine doesn’t have the same nutrients as a young plant so there’s a natural thinning of grapes across the vine.” 

It’s a new wine from the affable veteran who after all these years is still honing her craft and hunting down unique vineyard sites.