Bryan Hope Leads Sustainable Vine Wine Tours of Santa Barbara

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Our final stop was Demetria Estate, where I received pours from family member C. Alexis Zahoudanis on the yellow building’s sun-soaked patio.

Demetria is located in the “Rhone” region, two miles into Zaca Mesa Winery, a 1970s sustainability pioneer. Demetria originally planted in 1996 on steep hillsides, as opposed to Zaca Mesa’s flat vineyard. In 2006, the Zahoudonis started farming biodynamically, growing grapes like Grenache, Syrah, Movedra, also Viognier, Marson, Rousson and Grenache Blanc.

John Zahoudanis is from northern Greece and named the winery for the Greek goddess of the harvest. Another nod to their Greek heritage is the family crest, which features twin ram heads.

On the kitchen table, Demetria keeps a hollow cow horn, along with jars of soil, chamomile and yarrow, prime biodynamic ingredients.

According to winemaker Michael Roth, “It was cheaper to ship a concrete tank from France to make a new one here.” Concrete is harder to clean, but achieves better “thermal mass,” less fluctuation and more constancy. Out back, they also feature fermentation tanks and grape presses, plus a ping pong table. As Roth, a fellow New Jersey native, said, “It takes a lot of ping ping to make wine.”

There were plenty of funny moments throughout the day. In Demetria’s cellar, I stumbled across Moby, a little white dog. “We say that Moby is the saddest dog in the world,” said Roth. “If he had opposable thumbs, he’d slit his wrists.” Sad.

“I kind of wanted to be a chef but got into wine instead,” said Roth. “It’s a lot easier than standing in front of an oven all day.” He studied winemaking at Fresno State, worked for Grgich Hills, El Molino and in Sonoma before moving back south.

Our host Bryan Hope recently started producing his own wine. He found a free vineyard in Montecito via Craigslist and grew Chardonnay grapes, naming the wine for his grandmother Marcy. “Even though I only ended up with 10 gallons, it’s a very special 10 gallons,” he said of the wine, which is maturing in Demetria’s cellar.

Before I concluded the memorable wine tour and drove back to Santa Barbara, we took a group shot in front of Demetria.