Lyons Vineyard
The beautiful 10 acre property was first planted in 2009 with one acre each of Grenache and Viognier, and expanded in 2017 to nearly 6 acres planted. Currently we focus on Rhône varietals including Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Viognier.
With 3,000 vines per acre in the two original blocks, this high density vineyard produces quality fruit destined for premier cuvées in the Santa Ynez valley. The vines are planted 5′ x 3′, creating competition in such an ultra-high-density environment and producing small, dark-skinned grapes. The soil is a mixture of sandy loam, clay, and ancient riverbed with rich nutrients and great drainage.
Los Olivos District AVA
Lyons Vineyard is located in the Los Olivos District AVA, located in Santa Barbara County and is a sub-region of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA. It is slightly warmer than its western neighbor, Ballard Canyon, and cooler than its eastern neighbor, Happy Canyon. The AVA is located on a broad alluvial bench composed of well-drained alluvial soils, mostly fine sandy loam and clay. The gently to moderately sloping terrain encompasses the towns of Solvang, Los Olivos, Ballard and Santa Ynez.
Here in Santa Barbara Wine Country, we benefit from transverse valleys—coastal valleys connected to an east-west oriented mountain range. Because Santa Ynez is the only stretch of land in the Western Hemisphere constituting a true east-west traverse, the corridor created by these mountain ranges allows cool fog and ocean breezes to moderate the temperature. As a result, large diurnal temperature swings (warm days and cool nights), preserve acidity and produce wines with great ageability. This cooling phenomenon also helps to extend the growing season enabling the grapes to fully ripen without excessive sugar levels, which ends up producing very elegant and balanced wines.
Our Story
Wine is our passion, and that spark spurred us to quite literally lay down roots for our family, creating Lyons Vineyard, and bringing our dream to reality. Lyons Vineyard is family-owned, female-run, organically farmed with passion.
We are life-long learners, and the education about how wine is made, where it comes from, the effects of terrior, variety and clone, long ago ignited a thirst to learn more! We hope to share this gift of knowledge with you.