Amber’s Story
I was born and raised in Santa Barbara County and my family roots run generations deep in its fertile soils. My earliest years were spent playing outdoors on the beaches of Santa Barbara and in the rivers of the Santa Ynez Valley. I always particularly enjoyed working and playing with plants and flowers as I still do to this day.
My love of wine started with my first taste of a single vineyard Pinot Noir from Santa Rita Hills. I feel like we all have that one experience we can recall that really made us think about what direction we wanted to go in life. For me, it was that one wine.
That wine was a Ken Brown 2007 Clos Pepe Pinot Noir. It piqued my interest, I knew immediately if anything could taste that good coming from the Earth I had to rethink what I wanted to do in life.
I changed schools and started taking as many Viticulture and Enology courses at Allan Hancock community college in Santa Maria as I could. I worked at a few wine locations before applying to work with Ken Brown the winemaker whose wines inspired me to get into the industry. I’ve now worked 10 harvest with him and in 2018 I finally felt I had enough knowledge of the process to take on my own lot. I, of course, started with Pinot Noir because it’s not only my favorite, but also the hands-down, hardest grape to work with and process. I figured I might as well start with the hardest and work my way back.
Ken Brown & Ruben Camacho
Mentor and farmers are one and the same.
The beauty of being raised locally is I will always have a deep connection to the wines and culinary experiences of this region. More importantly, from years of experience, I know the land. The properties I work, I contract so that I can hands-on maintain my portions and dictate how they're farmed. I honestly make all my decisions based on what the vineyard is telling me.
I love a wide variety of well-made wines. I'm fortunate to be able to work in a region where so many varieties grow so well. It's kinda unheard of. I can work my Sauvignon Blanc vineyard, where it's often 90+ degrees in the shade in the summer, while 15 miles down the road, it's in the perfectly cool 70s, ideal for the full expression of the Pinot grapes I love. What!!
Thank you! To sum up, life‘s all about balance. I get to play with plants, make wine and create art. All of these things make me happy! I’ve noticed that, especially for women, finding balance and our place at the table is something we struggle with. I’m grateful that I have such an amazing, generous mentor in Ken Brown. He has always been supportive and encouraged me to evolve and trust my instincts when it comes to wine making. Wines are like our children. The evolution of them is the best part of the journey. Thank you for joining me on this wonderful journey!
