Cambria Estate Winery and Vineyard

​On the last day of our journey we rode through strawberry fields that seemed to go on forever to reach our final winery of the trip:  Cambria.  Cambria Estate Vineyard and Winery, located in Santa Maria, is not a boutique winery.  It is not a small winery.  It is a very big winery.  The strawberry fields became vineyards that stretched as far as the eye could see.

​Doc Ed had visited Cambria on his recent trip up to Santa Barbara, and highly recommended it.  At the end of the long drive we found a relatively small tasting room.  A bit of a surprise – I would have expected a larger facility for such a large winery.  Anyway, one large table filled a good part of the room, which was good because we had a large group and brought lunch.  See pictures of the tasting room below.

​We were there for the wine, of course, and, as you can see in the tasting menu, the only red wine they make is Pinot Noir.  Note that three of the five are pure clones of Pinot Noir.  Now I must confess that I cheated.  Yes, you heard me right, I cheated.  You see, Doc Ed brought back some of their wine, and, well, I tasted their Clone 23 Pinot Noir a few days before the trip.  Well, more than tasted it – I guess “guzzled” fits better.  More about Clone 23 below, but first a little bit about clones.

​Vineyards don’t start by planting seeds – just takes too much time for them to grow and you don’t really know what you are getting.  Rather, they plant vines.  If all of the vines have the exact same DNA – they all came from the same plant (usually by grafting) – then they are said to be “clones” of the original plant.  You can probably see where this is heading.  If I grow the vines from seeds, they will all have different DNA.  Some will grow well, but not produce good wine.  Some will struggle, but produce very good wine.  Others will grow well and produce good wine.  It all depends on the growing conditions.  Anyway, the best vines are cloned, and, if the clones are particularly good, given a name or number and made available to other vineyards.
Getting back to Cambria, they had five Pinot Noirs on their tasting menu, three of which were pure clones.  The first two mixed clone offerings were good.  Then we hit the third Pinot Noir, Clone 4, an outstanding example of a more-or-less classic Pinot Noir.  Clone 2A proved to be pretty good, though I really liked Clone 4 better.  Then we went to Clone 23.
Pinot Noir is a light red wine.  Indeed, I was told by one expert that you can tell if a Pinot Noir offering is pure Pinot Noir by trying to see your thumb at the bottom of the glass.  If you can see your thumb, it is a pure Pinot Noir.  He never met Clone 23.  It is a dark red – no way you can see your thumb.  Whatever the case, Cambria’s Clone 23 is outstanding.  But wait, didn’t I know this before I arrived at their tasting room?  Well, not exactly.  You see, Doc Ed had the 2015 vintage.  We were tasting the 2016 vintage.  The 2016 vintage is a bit fruitier, maybe even darker.  Honestly cannot say which I like better.  Anyway, we bought bottles of Clone 4 and Clone 23 2016 vintages, and some Clone 23 2015 vintage for Doc Ed.  Oh, and some of our group tasted the whites – and loved them.
Wine club is a three-tiered system, requiring 12, 18, or 36 bottles per year in three shipments for 15%, 20%, or 25% discounts, respectively.  All memberships include free wine tasting for up to six people.  Members can customize their purchases.