Hartley
Ostini Hitching Post Winery
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Hartley
Ostini Hitching Post Winery |
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Hitching Post Hosts Faux
Festivities/Benefit to Celebrate Sideways
To read the Press Release
click here.
Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post wines are made by Buellton
Hitching Post owner/chef Frank Ostini and his good friend,
former fisherman Gray Hartley.
Sideways. A film by Alexander Payne
Two friends, Miles and Jack (Paul Giamatti and Thomas Hayden
Church) who set out to spend a weekend together before Jack's
wedding. Along the way Maya (Virginia Madsen) and Stephanie
(Sandra Oh) come into their lives.
And it just so happens that Maya is a waitress right here at
the Hitching Post.
more...
Frank and Gray first made wine at home in 1979. They found their first
Pinot Noir in 1981. The project moved to a winery in 1984 to make
wines exclusively for the Hitching Post Restaurant. From 1991 to 2000,
Frank and Gray made their wines at Au Bon Climat/Qupe Winery, and from
2001 to 2007 at Central Coast Wine Services in Santa Maria. Production
has grown from 1200 cases in 1991 to 4700 in 2001 to over 15,000 cases
in 2007. With the 2008 harvest, Frank and Gray have moved the
winemaking to Terravant Winery, a new ultra premium facility in
Buellton, just 1.5 miles from the Hitching Post II. Winery tours and
tastings will be available in Spring 2009.
Their passioned focus has been to work with the California
Central Coast's best vineyards produce many Pinot Noirs, a
couple Syrahs and a Cabernet Franc blend. With a cool
marine-influence climate and unusually long growing season,
many of these grapes make wines that drink well when young and
had have shown the ability to improve and age gracefully for
many years.
Frank & Gray work with some of the best growers in Santa
Barbara County, from the quality vineyards of Santa Maria
Valley, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Rita Hills and Los Alamos. The
grapes are picked in the early morning and destemed into 1.5
ton open-top fermentation vats. Cold maceration is allowed for
several days, then a cultured yeast is added to promote a long
and cool fermentation.Highliner
Then comes the
manual punch downs from one to three times/day depending on the
stage of fermentation. Pressing occurs after 14-21 days
directly into barrel (no settling of solids). The wine rests in
barrel until racking just before bottling. Most wines are aged
in French Oak barrels for 18 months and are bottled
unfiltered.
Frank and Gray believe that great wines are made in the
vineyard. Their winemaking philosophy is that they are
caretakers who guide the wine into the bottle. As the wine
matures it is simply left to gently age in the barrel. This
minimalist approach allows Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post wines
to reflect the character of the vineyard and the vintage,
preserving the essence of the grape for you to enjoy when you
open the bottle.
A great example of these wines is the Hartley-Ostini Hitching
Post HIGHLINER. Highliner is one of the
best fishermen in the fleet, and this name honors the great men
of the Alaskan Salmon Fishery alongside whom Gray Hartley
worked for 28 years..A special wine, it is meant to be the best of their of Pinot Noirs.
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Hitching Post wines are available by the taste,
glass or bottle at the Hitching Post II restaurant
where they are sold to take home. Learn more about the
individual wines here. They can be found at
several retail outlets and, of course, from our website
order form.
We make these wines for ourselves....And to share with you.
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Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post Winery |
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