A new brand out of Santa Barbara, Babs Wine Company which is a partnership between Adam Lee and Santa Barbara County vineyard owner John Wagner. The brand is a torwback to a time before there was wine tourism in this area. It was all the way back in the early 1990s when Adam Lee started his Siduri brand (later sold to Jackson Family in 2015).
After the sale Lee consulted for three years for Jackson Family and then decided to make wine with Wagner who is one of the largest landowners in the Santa Rita Hills. Wines come from the famed John Sebastiano Vineyard as well as the Peake Ranch Vineyard and the Sierra Madre Vineyard. The wines are made with a good amount of whole cluster fermentation and are absolutely delicious — and downright killer values. Learn more about this exciting project at claricewinecompany.com and here are my reviews of the new wines by Babs Wine Company.
2021 Babs Wine Company ‘Dial Tone’ Pinot Noir- Rich and heady, with great vibrant acidity, the 2021 Babs Wine Company ‘Dial Tone’ Pinot Noir is a knockout bottling that is already showing brilliantly. The wine is loaded with tart red fruits that collide with copious minerals and salty soil flavors. Quite literally bursting with flavor, no reason to cellar this stellar 2021 Pinot Noir. Drink 2023-2031- 93
2021 Babs Wine Company ‘Busy Signal’ Pinot Noir- The 2021 ‘Busy Signal’ Pinot Noir is another insanely good value by Babs Wine Company. Unlike the ‘Dial Tone’ this shows more of a black fruit profile on the palate with wild blackberry and black cherry notes alongside shades of sassafras, dried herbs and plenty of mouth-watering acidity. Really good now, enjoy over the next eight plus years. Drink 2023-2031- 93