Jalama Wines, Palm Springs

As a young man, growing up on the family ranch on Jalama Road didn't hold much future for Lompoc native, Mark Cargasacchi. With cattle and bean prices stagnant, Mark decided the only way to make a living was to leave.

After successfully pursuing a career in environmental chemistry in Texas and San Francisco, word was getting out about the amazing wines being produced by Richard Sanford in the area now known as the Sta. Rita Hills. This piqued Mark's interest and he returned home to help plant the first of the family vineyards back in 1998.

His desire to learn winemaking dovetailed with his chemistry background, leading him to work at Fess Parker Winery and then Rideau Vineyard as their enologist. While there, he learned winemaking and honed his vineyard skills.

It seemed he had a natural instinct when it came to winemaking. After a year or two of following rigid instruction, he began developing his own techniques, borrowing here and there from his peers.

Some influences are apparent on the surface, such as his decision to switch pruning styles to cordon, which produces much smaller, even clusters at their vineyards than the traditional cane pruning.

Other influences are not visible, but are experienced with each sip of wine. For example, he now shies away from using commercial yeasts, instead relying on the native yeasts present in each vineyard to produce their own unique flavors during fermentation. Although there is risk inherent in this, as some yeasts can produce off-flavors, his instincts has proved correct, with wines rich in complex flavor, each vineyard unique.

The wine industry has allowed Mark to help reshape the future of the family ranches. Not only is it bringing much needed revenue into Lompoc through tourism, it has provided a path for Mark to return and make a living on the family ranch.

With his family, he still runs cattle and farms beans, but the future of the land is secure; swirling in a glass instead of down a drain.