The Wines of Avant
Nearly 90% of all the wines served in Avant are made in the Terravant Wine Company. In fact, Avant represents the only tasting room opportunity for many of these wines. Keeping consistent with our “local Centric” philosophy we also promote wines from the Central Coast that we find interesting and unique. Whether “made here” or made “close-by” every wine at Avant has a story and we can’t wait to share it with you.
Made in Terravant
Alere Wines — Nestled among the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains in the western edge of Cuyama Valley, Alere Vineyards produces Rhône varietals and a bit of Zinfandel. Their winemaker, Joe Haslett, crafts the essence of their grapes into wines they hope you will enjoy.
Alma Rosa Winery — Richard Sanford came to the Santa Ynez Valley 40 years ago with the desire to create wines that would rival the best of France. First to recognize the potential of the Santa Rita Hills (now an officially accredited American Viticultural Area as Sta. Rita Hills), and first to plant Pinot Noir vines there, Richard is a pioneer with a well established reputation for excellence in winemaking.
Brander Winery — Fred Brander and his family established The Brander Vineyward in the Santa Ynez Valley in 1975. His initial planting was of Bordeaux grape varietals, but he added Sauvignon Blanc grapes to his vineyard and created a distinctive wine that captured Santa Barbara County’s first gold medal for a wine at a major wine competition. Today, his focus is on Sauvignon Blanc, along with a small quantity of red wine.
Coghlan — Drawing parallels to their family heritage in the fine jewelry business, the Coghlan estate vineyard is one of the gems of the region and provides the perfect location to cultivate world-class Pinot Noir, Bordeaux, and Rhone-varietal grapes. These grapes are faceted into complex and brilliant wines.
Coquelicot — COQUELICOT (ko-klee-ko) is the name of the striking red poppy flower that graces the French countryside, as well as all the labels on our wines. Their 58-acre vineyard is an organically farmed property in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley. Sustainable farming and gentle, meticulous winemaking techniques converge to produce handmade, limited production wines that are a true celebration of life. Proprietor Bernard Rosenson and Winemaker Louis VanTonder.
Daniel Gehrs — Daniel Gehrs Wines is a small, family owned and operated winery featuring small lots of hand-crafted wines. With over 30 years of experience, Daniel’s wines are made in a classic old-world style that is exceptionally approachable to both novice and oenophile alike.
Falcone – Winemaking experts John and Helen Falcone, along with their daughter Mia, established their own family vineyard and developed their own brand focusing on two varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.
Fontes and Phillips – The winemaking team of Rochelle Fontes and Alan Phillips have taken their decades of experience in the wine industry to create their own brand of wine handcrafted and sourced from a single vineyard of high renown. They bottle and finish each package by hand, and personally label each bottle.
Hitching Post Winery — Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post wines are made by Buellton Hitching Post owner/chef Frank Ostini and his good friend, former fisherman Gray Hartley. Their passion and focus has been to work with the California Central Coast’s best vineyards to produce many Pinot Noirs, a couple Syrahs, and a Cabernet Franc blend.
Hoyt Family Vineyards – Carol Hoyt loves wine, so she and her husband, Stephen, decided to transform their backyard into a vineyard, which is planted in half Chardonnay and the rest Malbec and Merlot.
Huber Cellars — Proprietors Norman and Traudl Huber are dedicated to growing grapes of flavor and quality, including Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and the German red grape varietal Dornfelder, and crafting wines of distinction. All Huber wines are handcrafted in small lots to ensure the highest quality expression of the estate vineyard and the Sta. Rita Hills area.
Imagine Wine — Imagine Wine is a true boutique winery producing aromatic and delicious wines hand crafted by our winemaker, Ross Jay Rankin. His signature Paradise Mountain Syrah and Viognier are made exclusively from the highly sought after grapes of a unique vineyard in the eastern hills of Santa Barbara County.
Ken Brown – Ken Brown wines is a small family winery focusing on Pinot Noir from Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley. Pioneering winemaker, Ken Brown, produces very small lots from some of the region’s most highly acclaimed vineyards, including Cargasacchi, Clos Pepe and the new Rancho La Viña Vineyard.
Ludlow Westerly Wines
Martian Ranch & Vineyard – Martian is an eclectic grower of grape varietals both esoteric and otherwise. The creation of proprietor Nan Helgeland, despite rumors to the contrary, the name came from the blending of the names of her sons, Martin and Ian.
Pace Family Vineyard
Pacific Ridge Vineyards – Pacific Ridge Vineyards is a boutique California winery, producing wines from fruit including Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah. Their proprietary red blend is produced from Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Founder, owner and winemaker is Bob Kelly.
Shai Cellars – Owner Shawn Halahmy’s inaugural wine, 2008 Adome, a blend of 65% Syrah and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, received 91 points from in the December 2010 issue of The Tasting Panel magazine.
Sort This Out Cellars – With the motto “Good Times…Great Wines,” Sort This Out Cellars was founded as a reflection of the humor, passion, and palate of the team: Michael Cobb, Gary Cobb, Dena David, and Kevin David.
Summerland — Summerland Winery is a boutique winery dedicated to the production of fine wines from the Central Coast of California. Nebil “Bilo” Zarif founded Summerland Winery in 2002 with the goal of producing premium wines from expressive vineyard sources spanning from Santa Barbara to Monterey. Since then, the winery has built a name synonymous with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Thorne – Bobbie and Graner Thorne added a vineyard of Pinot Noir – which has since grown to three – on the farm and cattle ranch property that Bobbie’s father purchased in the 1950’s. The grapes were originally grown for other winemakers, but in 2005, the Thornes decided to create their own estate-grown Thorne Pinot Noir.
Westerly Vineyards — Committed to progressive winegrowing and inspired by artful winemaking, Westerly Vineyards specializes in limited-production wines that express the unique imprint of the vineyards and region. From the Bordeaux and Rhône varietals they grow, their mission is to craft wines of uncommon depth, distinction and elegance. Owners are Neil and Francine Afromsky, and winemaker is Kirby Anderson.
