We first stumbled onto Rideau Vineyards at last May’s Hospice du Rhone event in Paso Robles. And last summer, when we went up to the Solvang/Santa Ynez area with Anne’s parents, we couldn’t resist stopping by.
That’s because Iris Rideau made such an impression. Okay, so did her winemaker Andres Ibarra. Rideau is a New Orleans native who moved out to California as a young girl (we won’t go into how long ago, but she was making waves in L.A. business circles in the 1960s, based on the bio on the winery website). Today, she is an utterly charming lady with a strong affection for good wine and fine living.
In fact, she shares a similar rags to riches story with her winemaker Ibarra, who grew up working the vineyards, like many farmworkers.
“For me, it was just another job to help my dad,” he explained.
But then he got a taste of newly fermented chardonnay that he’d been putting into barrels, having picked the grapes two weeks before. He had to find out more and eventually worked his way up.
The tasting room is elegant, decked out in N’Awlins finery. And the wine is durned tasty.
You can find the tasting room at 1562 Alamo Pintado Road, Solvang, California 93463. Or call 805.688.0717. And the wines are available on the website http://www.rideauvineyard.com.