Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards and Toccata

Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards and Toccata Winery

95 Los Padres #1, Buellton, CA 93427
www.llwine.com

Region: Santa Maria Valley

Owners: Louis Lucas and Mike Lewellen

Winemaker: Megan McGrath Gates

About: Louis Lucas, a third-generation grape grower, and Superior Court Judge Royce Lewellen met in 1975 through the Santa Maria Wine & Food Society. Louis was a well- respected grower who had been supplying premium wine grapes for reputable Napa and Sonoma wineries for decades. Royce Lewellen was a passionate wine enthusiast with a vision for the future of the Santa Barbara County wine industry. Over the next twenty-five years, the Lucas and Lewellen families would grow in a deep friendship that would serve as the foundation for Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards, a Solvang, California based winery with four hundred estate acres situated among three of Santa Barbara County’s separate and distinct climate zones, three major wine labels, two popular tasting rooms in downtown Solvang, and a state of the art winery. Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards has a distributor presence in 25 states and 14 countries.

What is your favorite forgotten grape? Carménère or Freisa

What was your first experience with a forgotten grape? Planting Chenin Blanc in Santa Barbara County.

What do you love most about the forgotten grapes? They connect us to the immense heritage of wine grapes and help bring history alive.