We are an ingredient driven business.
The landscape dictates our decision making. Nurturing this landscape is the priority, vintage after vintage. Trust in this environment provides the opportunity to understand the power it holds. It’s pretty potent once you get close.
Santa Barbara wine country is remarkable. It has captured the imaginations of so many of us who have dedicated every waking moment of our time to understanding its rhythms. The ocean, the valleys, the geological shifts. Past, present and future fused together around every bend, love and heartbreak possible at any moment.
Unlocking the treasures this place holds is the motivation to continue this knowingly fleeting endeavor. We only have one opportunity to get it right each year. In a lifetime of trying, that’s not many breaks, yet we continue to engage in this magical madness that began 9,000 years ago across the globe.
Wine is about slowing down, a wonderful elixir to calm the immediacy of our contemporary needs.
Wine is about capturing the radical energy of a place formed millions of years ago.
Wine is about exploring what has yet to be accomplished.
Wine is about refining was has already been perfected.
Wine is about defying the expectation of what has yet to be achieved.
Defy expectation.
Why we do what we do.
Clementine Carter is about elevating our cool climate Rhône varieties grown in Santa Barbara wine country to the distinction they deserve. Over the course of our twenty+ years working in the region, the Sta. Rita Hills appellation holds a very special place in our hearts. We currently source the majority of our fruit from this AVA, in the hopes of encouraging our vineyard partners to plant more of what we love. The wind, saline sunshine and broad growing season create wines of wild finesse and fresh intensity. The Sta. Rita Hills has challenged every notion I have had about wine in the most definitive ways. It is thrilling to understand what you don’t know. What is ripeness? Flavor? Density? Texture? Control? What a ride.
We are different here.
Who is Clementine Carter?
She captured my heart the first time I saw her years ago with my sweet dad Kalche watching My Darling Clementine. We spent a lot of afterwork evenings watching Westerns over glasses of wine in the back room of our Baskin-Robbins ice cream store in Plymouth, Michigan. Clementine Carter was one of a kind, an archetype representing determination and ingenuity across complicated landscapes. A fitting tribute to our work in the wine industry.
Our creative collaborators.
Rachel Taylor drew the sketches freehand that appear throughout our label lineup. Andrew Harner, artist + designer, is the creative mind behind our labels. Photography is a mix between Deborah Chadsey, Fran Collin, Alexandra Gibbs and Heather Daenitz. Website design is Ivy Kehoe.
Of course, the ultimate collaborators are my family who work with me everyday in the tasting room - my brother Plamen running the day to day show and my mom Dobrila keeping us all in check piloting our kitchen and boosting morale. My dearest darling marshmallow of a husband Greg Brewer, tough on the outside and the ultimate softie on the inside, navigates my quirkiness and insatiable curiosity with aplomb.
Sonja
I Approach my work...
... with a lifetime of exquisite flavors, travels and experiences. A journalist by training and now a winemaker by passion, I am regularly inspired to never quit searching for that moment – the instant where it all makes sense. The two professions also continue to challenge me whether through words or wine, to craft timeless stories that are better when shared with others. I have discovered that winemaking and writing are very similar pursuits – the story is in the grapes, the harvest, the people, and the season. Each year is a fresh renewal. My goal is to create vibrant, fresh and pleasurable wines using the basic ingredients of premium Santa Barbara County fruit, dedication and hard work.
My undergraduate work is in Political Science from the University of Michigan and my graduate work is in Journalism from Michigan State University. I received a Fulbright Scholarship to The Republic of Macedonia (today North Macedonia) in 1998-1999 to study ethnic issues. The pursuit was to better understand the paths toward peace. I do that now through wine. My wine education and training are primarily on the job, in the vineyard and the cellar, and through the viticulture and enology classes at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, Calif. I helped plant a vineyard in 2004 that changed the trajectory of my life. Starting as a garagiste winemaker with a group of rag tag friends more than twenty years ago proved pivotal. My mentors and inspirations in Santa Barbara County and beyond are too many to list here. You’d be reading names and places for days. Thankfully the list keeps growing each year. This is a wonderful area to make wine with extraordinary fruit. Come and visit, taste some wine, and I will tell you all about it.
Creating world peace one bottle at a time.
Thank you.
Sonja Magdevski
There are really too many to list….
a few of our favorites
this is what we believe.
Organizations We SupporT
We are anti-racist. We believe in and uphold our commitment to equal opportunity for all.
We actively work to end racism in society and do not passively ignore racist actions or comments in our surroundings.
Listed below in alphabetical order are the organizations we support through wine donations, wine experiences and monetary funding.