Kenneth-Crawford

Building a Solid Future in the Santa Rita Hills

Some winemakers are moved by a single grape and chase that varietal all over the State to capture its finest.  Others are moved by a place, and try to showcase the best that terroir can offer no matter what form it takes.  Mark Crawford and Kenneth “Joey” Gummere fall into this second camp and have set their sights on the Santa Rita Hills that cling to the western edge of Santa Barbara County. 

Mark and Joey met on their first day on the job at Babcock Winery and developed a friendship that sparked the creation of Kenneth-Crawford wines.  While Mark stayed on at Babcock and eventually took over the post of assistant winemaker, Joey moved one valley over and began working for Lafond Winery.  The two thought they might make a good winemaking team, but before they fully committed to the Kenneth-Crawford venture they made a small lot of Pinot together just to make sure all of the chemistry was right.  That first lot turned out great and Kenneth-Crawford never looked back. 

For their first commercial release in 2001, Mark and Joey moved away from Pinot and focused on the other rising star in Santa Barbara County – Syrah.  This first release started small with just 200 or so cases of Santa Rita Hills Syrah that blended fruit from both the Lafond Vineyard on the east end and the Melville Vineyard at the far west end of the AVA.  With the success of this first release, Kenneth-Crawford has slowly grown their production to about 600 cases and continues to showcase some of the finest Syrah sites in western Santa Barbara County.  While Kenneth-Crawford’s distribution has generally been limited to high end wine shops in Southern California and on the Central Coast, they have managed to make their way into one restaurant in Northern California – a little restaurant in Yountville called the French Laundry (starting at the top, I guess).

With their production expanding, the Lafond Vineyard continues to be the flagship vineyard in Kenneth-Crawford’s line-up producing a stunning cool climate Syrah that delivers all the fruit you want and all the spice you can handle.  Sensing that Syrah is really hitting its stride on the east end of the Santa Rita Hills, Joey and Mark added a single vineyard syrah from the Evans Ranch property just across the road from the Lafond Vineyard.  This new addition to Kenneth-Crawford’s stable was the top-selling wine at this year’s Santa Barbara Futures Tasting – quite an accomplishment considering the outstanding wines being poured at the event. 

While their core offerings are from the Santa Rita Hills, Kenneth-Crawford is not afraid to branch out a bit when a golden opportunity arises.  Last season Kenneth-Crawford jumped on the opportunity to get some Syrah from the Purisima Mountain Vineyard perched high atop Ballard Canyon Road in the heart of the Santa Ynez AVA – a vineyard that is quickly becoming the holy-grail for top flight Syrah from the Central Coast.  Mark Horvath vividly remembers getting that “under the microscope” feeling the first time Steve Beckman (owner and caretaker of the Purisima Mountain Vineyard) tasted Kenneth-Crawford’s version, but the worry was all-for-not as Steve gave Kenneth-Crawford’s rendition a clear stamp of approval and they will soon be releasing what they hope will be the first of many Purisima Mountain offerings.

As their reputation for crafting distinctive Syrah is being solidified, Kenneth-Crawford continues to sharpen their focus on the Santa Rita Hills by adding a Pinot grown by their former boss and Santa Rita Hills pioneer, Bryan Babcock.  In the upcoming season, Kenneth-Crawford will craft their first Pinot from fruit lovingly tended by Bryan at his family estate on the west end of the Santa Rita Hills AVA.  Kenneth-Crawford is looking to source Pinot from a few other choice Santa Rita Hills vineyards and even has their sights set on an estate project in the coming years.

Mark Horvath and his wife own about 44 acres of prime Pinot real estate off Sweeney Road right next to Peter Cargasacchi’s meticulously farmed vineyard that has become a prime source for a number of top-flight Pinot producers in the area.  Mark hopes to capture this same terroir and the 25 or so plantable acres on his property may someday produce Kenneth-Crawford’s first estate Pinot. 

Whether its Syrah today, or Pinot tomorrow, Kenneth-Crawford continues to handcraft their wines with care and is committed to releasing exceptional wines from choice Santa Rita Hills vineyards.  In their first couple of years, Mark and Joey have hit this target and I wouldn’t expect a change anytime in the future. 

Current Line-up

2001 Santa Rita Hills Syrah 

2002 Santa Barbara County Syrah

2002 Lafond Vineyard Syrah 

2002 Thompson Vineyard Syrah

Coming Attractions

Evans Ranch Vineyard Syrah

Purisima Mountain Vineyard Syrah

Babcock Vineyard Pinot Noir

Contact

web:  www.kennethcrawford.com

email: info@kennethcrawford.com