Region of production: Santa Barbara County
Winery Location: Santa Barbara
Year Established: 2001

Vineyard Holdings

N/A

Sourced vineyards

  • Bien Nacido (Santa Maria AVA)
  • Dierberg (Santa Maria AVA)
  • Zotovich (Santa Rita AVA)
  • Sanford & Benedict (Santa Rita AVA)
  • La Encantada (Santa Rita AVA)
  • La Rinconada (Santa Rita AVA)
  • Bent Rock (Santa Rita AVA)

Top Wines Produced & Inaugural Vintages

  • Santa Barbara County Chardonnay: 2009
  • Bien Nacido Chardonnay (Santa Maria AVA): 2008
  • Sanford & Benedict Chardonnay (Santa Rita AVA): 2011
  • Zotovich Family Chardonnay (Santa Rita AVA): 2006
  • Dierberg Chardonnay (Santa Maria AVA): 2010
  • La Rinconada Vineyard (Santa Rita AVA): 2014

Average Total Production

  • 30,000 bottles

Summary

Justin Willett founded Tyler Winery in 2005 while working as Assistant Winemaker at Arcadian Winery. His philosophy behind the project is to produce elegant Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from exceptional vineyard sites within Santa Rita Hills AVA and Santa Maria Valley AVA.  Willett places an additional focus on working with the oldest vines from within the sourced vineyards. Tyler currently produces twelve different bottlings from 22 parcels within seven vineyard sites.

Style & Vinification Techniques

Grapes are harvested at first light and carefully sorted in the field. Grapes are whole cluster pressed to tank to settle. After settling, juice is racked off the heavy solids to separate tanks for fermentation. Once fermentation is active, the wine is transferred to barrel (10-20% new). Both primary and secondary fermentation take place in barrel. Following fermentation wines are left on the lees for approximately one year before being racked to tank to rest for an additional 3-4 months prior to bottling.

Producer Website: Tyler