from left to right: Reza, Vicky, Norma, Antoinette (front), Aida, Irma, Jenny, Sam, Adele (front), Seth, Isabelle, Josephine (front), Martin, Arthur (front), Cindy, Shay, Debra, Sylvia, Gretchen, Adrienne, Steve, Ramiro, Lio

If you’ve visited us, you’ve probably met some of our team here at Rideau, but we’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to everyone!

Martin and Isabelle, Owners

Martin and Isabelle Gauthier moved from Montreal to Santa Barbara and realized their long-time dream of working on a vineyard and winery. They are often accompanied by their two young children: Adele, who is already good at detecting wine aromatics (don’t worry, just the aromatics!), and Arthur, who is excellent at driving the forklift (on Adrienne’s lap). In addition, their two dogs have each found their niche on the property: Antoinette is always busy chasing animals in the vineyard while Josephine enjoys resting under the shade of our oak trees.

Winemaking and Vineyard Team

Our winemaking team is as talented as they are passionate about their work. Winemaker Adrienne St. John, who was raised on a vineyard in Northern California, has a zeal for fitness and outdoors activities, but her true home is the icy realm of the winery where she crafts our acclaimed wines in full winter garb during the middle of summer. She is aided by Gretchen, our assistant winemaker, who brings loads of experience, having traveled and worked at vineyards all over the world. The winemaking team is completed by Lio, Cellar Master, who’s adept at everything and loves the Raiders almost as much as he loves Rideau (or is it vice-versa?). Ruben is our Vineyard Manager, and has been working in viticulture for almost three decades. The insight he brings to growing our vines is immense.

Operations Team

Mostly working away behind the scenes, they are nevertheless the gears that keep everything moving. Jenny is our HR Manager and Accountant and is vital to making sure we all get paid on time and stay happy. Sylvia is our long-time Cellar Club manager, and Paula is the Assistant Club Manager. If you haven’t heard from them, it means you’re picking up your shipments on time! Cindy does amazing work heading up shipping and receiving, which is a huge job for any fully direct-to-consumer winery. Ramiro is our Groundskeeper and resident jack-of-all trades; he can do everything from cooking up incredible tacos to perfectly manicuring our iconic rose gardens and sprawling green lawns. We’d be lost without him!

Sales and Floor Team

The sales team is managed by Steve, who’s been with the company for 9 years. He can often be seen weirdly laying down in the vineyard with a camera trying to get the perfect shot for an e-mail blast. Seth is the tasting room manager; his experience working in the winery for years prior to moving into the tasting room serves as a great asset. Irma heads up our Events and Groups, so you’ll be working with her when you choose to get married at Rideau (hint hint). If you get a pizza or beautifully prepared charcuterie platter, it’s made by Sam, who heads up our kitchen, or Vicky, who also works tirelessly to keep the tasting room spotless.

You’re probably most familiar with our excellent sales staff: Aida, Debra, Niki, and Reza are all truly dedicated to the company and are the faces and voices who welcome you when you visit. Norma and Shay have been giving in-depth and informative tours to visitors for years.

We can’t thank enough our entire staff for all the hard work they put in. Our company is truly a team effort, and we’re all here to make sure you get the best quality wine and have the best experience possible at our property. We’ll see you the next time you’re in!

If you’ve visited our property lately, you may have noticed that the hillside leading to our upper vineyard is blanketed by brand new plantings, now fully emerging from their protective housings. In March, we realized a long-time goal to add an additional one-acre block to our existing 13 acres of planted vines. This goal arose from a desire to round out our esteemed estate Rhône program with something we felt it was always lacking: an estate GSM blend. With such a small amount of planted Grenache and Mourvèdre, we were never able to dedicate enough of these varietals to a blend without compromising the single varietal bottling production. Now, this acre of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre will serve to enrich our Rhône program and provide us with what will eventually be a marquee reserve wine for our brand.

Under the guidance of vineyard manager Ruben Solorzano, owner Martin and Isabelle’s children Adele and Arthur put the first vines into the ground along with the whole Rideau team. Unlike many California plantings, these vines are own-rooted, which means they were not grafted onto American rootstock but rather planted straight into the ground. (Click here to watch a description of how the vines are planted). With own-rooting, there is potentially more variability from year-to-year, but the fruit flavors will not be influenced by the rootstock. Solorzano brought his decades of experience to this project, suggesting a tightly-trellised planting pattern that would yield just enough highly-concentrated fruit to create this yearly blend. Tight spacing stresses the vines, producing smaller clusters with smaller berries. This results in a higher skin-to-pulp ratio and higher intensity wines.

We’ve long worked with excellent vineyards in the region to produce GSM blends, but we’re very excited to finally feature the unique richness of our own terroir for this traditional, desired blend. You’ll have to tide yourself over on our other excellent wines for a while, though—the first vintage of our estate GSM will likely be 2019. In the meantime, feel free to come visit and peek at the new planting. For a closer look, join our wine club and get a special tour of the vineyard where you’ll learn all about what makes this particular planting and our whole site so special.