Ep 275: Lane Tanner, the Pinot Czarina of Santa Barbara County, California

When I was visiting Santa Barbara County, I got to sit down with the Pinot Czarina herself, Lane Tanner. She is famed for her deep knowledge of Pinot noir winemaking in Santa Barbara, having arrived as only the second woman winemaker in the county in 1981. Since then, Lane has built a reputation as one of the top Pinot specialists in California and she is a pioneer and icon in SB County. She has had a long career and today, she is the winemaker and partner with Will Hentry Ep 259) in Lumen Wines, making exceptional single vineyard Pinot Noir, with great Chardonnay, Grenache, Grenache blanc and Pinot Gris to boot. Although accomplished, Lane is a total package – confident, strong, but kind and willing to share her story with us. We became fast friends and I can't wait to introduce you to her and her story in this show! Here are the topics we hit on:   How Lane got into wine, how she met and was mentored (inadvertently) by the famed Andre Tchelistcheff Santa Barbara County in the 1980s -- the culture, the wines, and how it has changed  Lane's ability to master nearly any task -- her "Inspector Gadget" -like quality to fix anything, and solve any problem (only she does it well and he did it poorly!) The importance of geography and geology to Pinot Noir in Santa Barbara. Lane's philosophies, how she came upon them, and why they yield such spectacular wine -- from picking decisions to pruning to clones, we cover it all!  The trouble with scores and judging (she's been a judge before so we get some inside dirt!) How the movies "Sideways" and it's residual effects made Lane retire for a time.   We talk Santa Barbara wine -- now and then. The present and future: Will Henry joins us again to help tell the the Lumen story and where it's going! We hope to have an Underground Wine Event next year in Santa Barbara! Stay tuned for details!    Thanks to our sponsor this week:  YOU! The podcast supporters on Patreon, who are helping us to make the podcast possible and who we give goodies in return for their help! Check it out today: https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople   Get the back catalog on Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.