09 Jun A Rare Tasting with Sea Smoke Winery and the Return of Botella

In the world of California Pinot Noir, few names carry the same cult-like reputation as Sea Smoke Winery. While collectors can get their hands on allocations, the average wine drinker may have more trouble tasting the wines. And visiting the estate itself is even rarer. So, when I got an invitation to attend a lunch with the Winemaker Don Schroeder and General Manager Matt Steel, I knew it was a rare opportunity. The answer was an immediate yes.

Set on the western edge of the Sta. Rita Hills, directly across the road from Sanford Winery, Sea Smoke was founded on a singular question posed by founder Bob Davids. He asked influential Santa Barbara wine figures like Jim Clendenen and Bruno D’Alfonso where the best Pinot Noir could be grown.

The answer was Rancho Cachuma, a former horse ranch owned by the Redmond family. Sea Smoke acquired the property in 1998 and the first vines were planted in 1999. Today just 200 acres are planted across the 1000 acre estate. The vineyard is divided into 67 individual blocks, each planted to different Pinot Noir clones. Each block is vinified separately, allowing the winery to build texture and complexity through blending.

Over lunch, General Manager Matt Steel described the house style not simply through flavor, but through texture. Sea Smoke’s wines are powerful and layered with a range of textures that can move from rich and heavy to fun, depending on the wine and vintage.

Lunch began with Sea Smoke “Sea Spray” 2020 Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Wine and then we moved to the Chardonnay with the 2023 Estate Chardonnay and the Botella by Sea Smoke 2024 Chardonnay (more about Botella in a moment). Both the sparkling wine and the Chardonnays showed precision and texture.

We then moved to the Pinot Noir. The estate’s two flagship Pinot Noirs, Southing and Ten, reflect those stylistic differences. Southing is generally considered more approachable, offering a fruit-driven profile with a softer, silkier texture. Ten, in contrast, is built for the cellar, shaped by a greater influence of new oak and a more intense structure marked by deeper concentration, firmer tannins, and a more powerful profile. Matt described Southing like “silk pajamas” while Ten is more akin to a “cashmere overcoat.” We enjoyed two vintages of Ten, 2013 and 2023. The 2023 Ten showed darker fruit, structure, and youthful power. The 2013 Ten was poured from magnum, revealing how beautifully the wines evolve with age. The wine was still concentrated but it was the perfumed aromas and texture that stood out.

While the flagship estate wines were a highlight, the new news from Sea Smoke is the return of Botella by Sea Smoke. Sea Smoke originally introduced Botella as an entry-level Pinot Noir sourced from the estate’s clay-heavy soils. Alongside Southing and Ten, it offered a more approachable expression of the vineyard. But as demand grew for Southing and Ten, there simply was not enough wine to continue producing it and Botella disappeared after the 2014 vintage.

The re-release of Botella offers a different lens into Sea Smoke. The Botella Pinot Noir is sourced from neighboring vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills and are intended to be enjoyed earlier than the estate wines. Matt described Botella as more lively, textured, and open on the palate, with less density. In the glass, the 2024 Botella by Sea Smoke Pinot Noir showed notes of rose petals and dark red fruit and had an energetic freshness beneath the winery’s signature texture.

Saying yes to the invitation to lunch turned out to be more than a chance to taste rare wines. It was an opportunity to better understand the philosophy behind Sea Smoke and to learn more about the return of Botella, now reintroduced with both a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. While Sea Smoke’s flagship wines remain highly allocated and built for the cellar, Botella offers wine lovers the chance to experience the winery’s signature style with a more immediate and approachable expression of the Sta. Rita Hills.