Dusty Nabor Wines

This is a wine I’m sorta sad more people didn’t get to try. It was such a small production that it sold out before it was even released. Those “in the know” gobbled it up before it could even come out. Definitely the best Pét Nat I’ve ever produced and seriously might be one of the best wines I’ve ever made. 2023 Grüner Veltliner Fiddlestix Vineyard Sta Rita Hills Pét-Nat Sparkling Wine. Photo Cred Eric Lagerstrom Triathlete

Cool article in the Santa Barbara Independent by Matt Kettmann on me and the winery. Some insights into the what and why of what I do.

Winemaker Dusty Nabor’s Powerful Pursuit of Every Passion Why this steel pipe professional is crafting Santa Barbara County wines in a Camarillo warehouse.

Had a very productive last couple days with Mission Santa Barbara. A focused event showcasing our SB Wines, wineries and vineyards to buyers from around the country. Getting the word out on our beautiful region through education and first hand experience.

Excited to now be available at K&L Wines.

Introducing: Dusty Nabor Wines — K&L Wines On the Trail Blog Back in March I attended the aptly named “World of Pinot Noir” in Santa Barbara. This is an enormous event spread over several days, consisting of educational seminars, winemaker dinners and lunches, plus a couple enormous “Grand Tastings” with hundreds of wineries in attendance from all ove...

Check out our latest collaboration with .triathlonlife and with a 2023 Grenache Rosé Pét-Nat Sparkling Wine from in Ballard Cyn. This is our third collaboration with TTL and we are so excited to bring it to you this Weds 4/3.

Link to Vlog featuring us: https://youtu.be/TqyjxrggeG8?si=5CQMqZ6nN5tAUa3u

Link to store: https://thattriathlonlife.com/products/ttl-x-dusty-nabor-grenache-rose

Our Spring Release hit our website dustynaborwines.com last week. Head over and check out the new wines!

2022 Pinot Noir DNW-SRH Sta Rita Hills
2022 Pinot Noir Bentrock Vineyard Sta Rita Hills
2022 Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Vineyard Sta Rita Hills
2022 Pinot Noir Radian Vineyard Sta Rita Hills
2021 Syrah Kimsey Vineyard Ballard Canyon
2023 Grenache Rosé Pét-Nat J+K Vineyard Ballard Cyn
2022 Chardonnay Spear Vineyards Sta Rita Hills
2022 Viognier J+K Vineyard Ballard Canyon

Thanks for the great review. I fully agree with the assessment here. I don’t “make” wines to be any certain way…ie easily approachable or ready on release. I simply give the grapes an environment to do what they want during fermentation and élevage. Their personalities reveal themselves over time. And some of my wines need age. In fact, a lot of them do. It’s part of making honest wines.


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This wine doesn’t exude the kind of gloriousness typical of California Pinot–even from Radian–and for that I can only chalk it up to youthfullness. Brash and steely–even a bit austere–its violently-purple-pink rim telling a story begging of age. Almost Gamay-like in nuance and texture, but there’s far more brooding down in there for discovery, as it goes more *spatburgunder* on the palate.. Clean and slightly flowery in the nose, it hints at funk and Pinot-essence but only barely.

In the mouth, it follows suit: thin fruitiness combines light berry and ridiculous acidity in a package rather subdued but packed with potential. I’m going to guess WELL below 14-oh and while ripe by French standards, a far cry from the SRH’s we have come to expect. Mouthfeel descends into pithy structure almost instantly. Many people reading this–or tasting it–might be turned off by their sweet-tooth not being titillated, but purists will be in love. Put it away: it’s here for the long-run.

2022 DUSTY NABOR Pinot Noir Radian Vyd Santa Rita Hills Santa Barbara Co 13.0

http://dustynaborwines.com/

We’ll be there!

Some wonderful images from Eric Lagerstrom Triathlete enjoying our 2019 Happy Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon with Paula Findlay . Thanks for the great shots!

COMING MARCH 1, 2024! Happy New Years!

Now that harvest is over, here’s a hint as to what’s next. We start a series of bottlings on Thursday. All these wines will release March 1st!

Preparing for the first wine to hit the barrel for harvest 2023. Fiddlestix Block 3A & 4D Pinot Noir!

First fruit of the season. A manageable 2 tons Pinot Noir Fiddlestix Vineyard. Time to dust everything off and see if it still works.

New website. Wines are available for 1 week to test out the new site! Get on it. Dustynaborwines.com

I’m going to re-release a small amount of this with the new website launch in a few days. Keep an eye out.


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Grenache is such an under-appreciated grape with the masses. Screw all the chubby GSM’s in the Red Blend section–those are often the only experience the 99 have with Grenache and most of them are void of character. And if ever there was an argument for *Grenache delivers what Pinot promises* this bottle is point and mark. Supple, velvety and luscious, a nose both dirty, funky and polished, showing exquisite fruit dedication in a grainy perspective that will make your eyes roll back into their sockets in delirium. Clear garnet, thin, transparent and going against ALL the place-marks of today’s thick purple elixirs, dank and complex, the layers eroding off in near inexplicable fashion. You wonder how a wine this light of body can carry such exuberance, but that is the beauty of true Pinot–and Grenache.

And then you taste it. Stunningly easy and alive on entry: gasps of salty air and dripping leaves show cores of chilly splendor against seedy meat so concentrated the mind boggles. Ripe apple, ridiculous layers of tropical floral and still managing bitter gloriousness, this *could* possibly be the best wine this producer has ever made. Warm and inviting throughout the middle into a deep finish of velvet tannin and forever sharp berry, the balance not lacking in any regard and the final outcome nothing short of spectacular. A wine that will blow your mind which will polish for decades in extravagant fashion. It’s just so fu***ng good.

2021 DUSTY NABOR Spear Vyd Co 14.5

http://dustynaborwines.com/

Continuing to move forward without any compromising. It means a slow but steady grind. Lots of room for improvement still.

A little tank art for you. This is the bottom of our 2021 Cabernet tank after bottling. Wine is now safe in the bottle where it will sit for about 17 months before release next year.

If you are interested in hearing a bit of my story, give this podcast a listen. Allison Levine interviews me on Wine Soundtrack

Dusty Nabor | Wine Soundtrack Nabor Wines LLC was starting in 2015 with just two barrels but I still remain the sole employee. I began in a custom crush in Westlake Village and cut my teeth there for 3 years before the custom crush went defunct and I acquired all the equipment and moved to my own location in Camarillo. I source....

Stephen McConnell
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Deep, dark, cherry-ridden elixir with a predictable grimy nose peeling off gobs of mineral and deep cassis. Berry and bluster abound: a textbook Happy Canyon cab. I chose not to decant, as this wine is ripe and round, not showing too many things decanting will elevate. Age, perhaps, but more air: no.

Lovely vegetal ire introduces the taste, all polished down on rather user-friendly distiction departing not-too-different ways. Oak hits early and late, a testament to modern cab production. Lush and sweet, the finish going more heated than tannic, all-in-all an easy wine capable of supporting a multitude of rich dishes or sipping alone in now-classic California Cabernet fashion.

2019 DUSTY NABOR Santa Barbara Co. 14.5

http://dustynaborwines.com/

My pride and joy. 2021 Radian Vineyard Pinot Noir. I have to admit, I held back a few more cases of this than I normally do 😉

I actually enjoy festival season. I know I can be an inhospitable person at times but festivals are just the right amount of interaction to keep the patrons safe from me. Main reason I don’t have a tasting room is the casualties I’d leave behind.

Always nice when these vineyards get the recognition they deserve.


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Congratulations to on 98 points for his 2021 Radian Vineyard Pinot Noir!

Our “All Things Grenache” release is happening now! Mailing list members please check your email. 2021 Grenache, 2021 Rosé of Grenache and 2022 Rosé of Grenache Pét-Nat! All from Spear Vineyards in the Sta Rita Hills AVA. This will be our last release before shutting shipping down for the summer! So get on these fantastic summer wines and get them before it gets too hot!

This video was shot right before our Winter Release party by the folks at Club Havana Nights. Although all these wines have sold out, it gives some great insight into the vineyard sources and winemaking philosophy.

Dusty Nabor Interview 2023