Kita Wines was founded by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians in Santa Barbara County. They grow all their grapes on tribal land and have a Native American winemaker, Tara Gomez, at the helm. It’s also the first winery and vineyard run solely by tribe members. The word kitá is from the Santa Ynez Chumash native language, Samala, and translates to “our valley oak.”

Gomez fell in love with winemaking after she first set foot in a winery as a child. The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians awarded her with a scholarship to California State University at Fresno, where she was one of two women to earn an enology degree in 1998.

Nothing gets wasted in the vineyards and everything done in the vineyards and winery reflects the Tribe’s vision of sustainability. They intercrop and turn all compost back into the land, while relying on owls, bats and hawks to help with pest control.

Unfortunately, the tribe made the decision to cease production this year, so these are some of the last wines to come out of this Indigenous estate.

Spey 2014 is a Rhone style blend of 55% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 20% Carignane. It's reminiscent of underripe berries, rose petals and roasted game. The palate offers dried cranberry, smoke and something like toffee in the glass.