Firestone Vineyard is a family-owned estate

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...

on the Central Coast of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, founded in 1972 as

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa M ...

's first estate winery. Firestone Vineyard is one of the wineries along the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail.

History

Firestone Vineyard was founded by members of the Firestone family in 1972, as Santa Barbara County's first estate winery. The winery was designed by Richard Keith & Associates, architects. The winery is located in rural

Santa Ynez Valley The Santa Ynez Valley ( Spanish: ''Valle de Santa Ynez'') is located in Santa Barbara County, California, between the Santa Ynez Mountains to the south and the San Rafael Mountains to the north. The Santa Ynez River flows through the valley f ...

near the town of Los Olivos in Santa Barbara County. It includes a barrel cellar, fermentation cellar, crush pad, tasting room and bottling line for full production. The winery is surrounded by of estate vineyards. In early 2007, Firestone Vineyard opened a companion winery in Paso Robles, with a focus on small lots of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

s from local vineyards. William P. Foley acquired Firestone Winery and surrounding of land (300 acres under vine) in early August 2007 as part of a plan to expand his portfolio of small specialty wineries on the western coast. Foley owns Foley Winery in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. As part of an evolving brokering of the deal, the Paso Robles facility - initially planned to stay in Firestone hands - was also purchased by Foley. Firestone Walker Brewing and Curtis Winery remain in the hands of the Firestone family. Curtis Winery focuses on

Rhône wine The Rhône wine region in Southern France is situated in the Rhône valley and produces numerous wines under various ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) designations. The region's major appellation in production volume is Côtes du Rhôn ...

s from Ambassador's and Crossroads vineyards, (which are owned by the Firestone family, and retained in the deal) and Voglezang vineyard which is independently owned. As of July 2008, William Foley II remains the proprietor of Firestone Vineyard. Currently, Lorna Kreutz is the Director of winemaking and Daniel Spratling is the Associate winemaker.

Climate

Vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley lie on an east-to-west orientation of the surrounding mountain ranges. Firestone Vineyards estate vineyards have an alternating climate of warm afternoons followed by cooler coastal evenings. Temperature swings of up to 50 degrees F are normal during the summer growing season which results in a long growing season. The estate vineyards soil is composed of gravelly

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

with rocky subsoils.

Paso Robles Winery

The Firestone Paso Robles winery focuses on small lots of Paso Robles-grown

, including

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

and

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

. The winery is located at the corner of

California State Route 46 State Route 46 (SR 46) is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is a major crossing of the Coast Ranges and it is the southernmost crossing of the Diablo Range, connecting SR 1 on the Central Coast near Cam ...

East and Airport Road near downtown Paso Robles and features a tasting room, barrel cellar, enclosed patio, estate vineyard and terraced gardens with picnic accommodations. Initial production is 4,000 cases annually. Firestone Vineyard Paso Robles was opened in early 2007. Firestone Vineyard purchased Paso Robles fruit for several vintages, and the quality of the resulting wines was enough to make the decision to establish a new winery. Firestone Vineyards affiliated company Firestone Walker Brewing Company relocated its brewing operations to Paso Robles in 2001. The Paso Robles winery is managed by Andrew Firestone. Paso Robles resides inland from the coast between

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in northern

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra fou ...

. The coastline is bordered by the Santa Lucia Mountains, which trap heat during the daytime. In the evening coastal air moves through the Templeton Gap. This climate pattern is favored for

Bordeaux wine Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gi ...

production.

Estates

Firestone Vineyard also manages Firestone Walker Fine Ales, a regional brewery founded in 1996, and Prosperity Wines, founded in 1991 by Brooks Firestone.

References

External links

* * * {{cite news, url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/01/AR2008070100624.html , title=At the Corner of Hollywood and Vine , newspaper=The Washington Post , author=Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg , date=2008-07-02 Wineries in California Companies based in San Luis Obispo County, California Food and drink companies established in 1972 1972 establishments in California