As published in Ventana Monthly October 2013
An
industrial park zoned for manufacturing off Telephone Road in midtown Ventura
isn’t where you’d expect to find award-winning boutique wines and craft beer,
but then again, it’s exactly as it should be.
“We're
considered a manufacturer because we use raw materials to create a finished
product,” says winemaker Marlow Barger, who together with his wife Janis opened
Plan B Cellars (more on the name later) just last year.
With
four wineries and a craft brewery scattered among irrigation and tile
wholesalers, the DMV, window tinting installers and plumbing suppliers, the
newly-dubbed Off Market Tasting Trail may seem out of place, but it’s certainly
blazing a trail into the hearts of more adventurous would-be connoisseurs.
Plan
B resides in an interesting neighborhood for a winery; on one side, there’s a granite
fabricator, on the other, the railroad tracks. Not only is the rent cheaper in
industrial parks, there’s a quirky and appealing charm factor.
“We
have a toast whenever the train rolls by,” Marlow says, looking out past the
roll-up doors to the railroad tracks where ocean breezes flow through. It’s those
curious traditions and the view past the tracks to an agricultural field, the
harbor and beyond to the Channel Islands that bring wine lovers in. It sure
beats a two-hour drive up the coast through the Santa Barbara wine country. And
the wine’s pretty darn good, too.
Specializing
in typical Rhone varietals – Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah – using grapes sourced
from Santa Barbara County and Edna Valley, Marlow makes only reds. One of their
more popular wines, a dry rosé, comes with a fun gimmick – a refillable
full-liter Italian glass bottle with a swing top. It’s sort of like what their
neighbor down the street, Surf Brewery, does with glass refillable growlers,
which keeps patrons coming back for more.
The
growlers over at Surf, though, get filled with craft beer made with ingredients
sourced from around the world. If a 64-ounce growler’s too big, pints and
five-ounce samplers are also available. The taproom and brewery offer a relaxed
vibe in a large converted warehouse with surfboards, surf memorabilia and surf
art adorning the walls, and vintage surf punk piped in through the speakers.
Since
opening in 2011, Surf’s business quickly took off. With the distinction of
being the largest commercial brewer and the only packaging microbrew in the
county, it’s no wonder the place is usually packed.
“We
haven't aggressively promoted any of this,” says co-founder Doug Mason, a homebrewer
since the late 1980s.
He
credits social media for much of their success, and the beer. “Craft brewing over
the last decade is exploding,” he says. They’ve also got a gold medal under
their belt from the Los Angeles County Fair for their County Line Rye Pale Ale.
A
homebrew shop at the front of the taproom and class offerings have helped them
tap into a new niche, turning customers into hobbyists. Escabeche food truck,
routinely parked right outside, offers hungry beer drinkers tacos, chile
rellenos and sopes.
Just
across the parking lot, Panaro Brothers Winery has an intimate space to taste their
affordable wine (half bottles start at just $8.00) inspired by their Italian
grandfather’s traditional winemaking style. Reds and whites sourced from Santa
Barbara and Monterey counties are handmade using a small press just like they
were taught when they were kids. David Panaro’s quick wit comes alive between
sips, doling out wine trivia and bad jokes.
“You
know what you're supposed to do if a bottle of wine won't breathe?” he asks.
“Give it mouth-to-mouth.”
He
and his brother Vito started making wine here nearly five years ago, but the
tasting room opened just a year and a half ago when things started to get
interesting with the newly-formed urban tasting trail.
David,
a geologist for the County by day, felt that going into the family wine
business was fool proof. “You can't go wrong with wine no matter the economy,”
because, he says, people drink when times are tough, and they drink when times
are good.
Farther
down the street in a fancy modern tasting room, Four Brix Winery, which opened
in 2011 a few months after Surf, is on their third harvest. Owned by Gary and
Karen Stewart, “Brix” is the term for measuring sugar in grapes, and “Four”
references the couples’ favorite sweet spots for wine: Italy, Spain, France and
California.
Gary,
a roofing contractor, started making wine in their garage in 2001. When he
decided to pursue winemaking more seriously, he took classes in viticulture at
U.C. Davis.
“After
several thousand dollars worth of classes, I learned you just need good fruit
to make good wine,” he says.
Their
grape choices are paying off and getting noticed. Their “Scosso”
Cab-Merlot-Sangiovese blend received 89 points from Wine Spectator and a gold medal from Sunset magazine, which will feature Four Brix in their October
issue.
In 2001, the first place to open
on the trail was Ventura Wine Company. Owner Nick Fisher wanted a place for
food and wine tasting, so in 2008 he opened The Cave, where enomatic tasting
machines offer one-to-five-ounce tastes of 32 different wines with the swipe of
a pre-paid card and the push of a button, making this is the candy store for
oenophiles. Small plates of wine-friendly gourmet bites allow patrons to have a
full gastronomic experience in an ambient space molded with gunite to look and
feel like a wine cave.
While
The Cave is the trail’s veteran, Plan B is the new kid on the block. But the
Bargers are in their early 60s, and they’re banking on this new venture as
their retirement. In fact, the name of the winery is a nod to their
newly-adopted and not- so-traditional retirement plan.
Marlow,
who’s been in construction for 40 years, says he likes to be challenged, and
after apprenticing with Mike Brown of Camarillo’s Cantara Cellars, he decided,
with Janis’ urging, to forge ahead, investing a big chunk of their IRA, even
though it seemed risky.
“We ran some financial scenarios,
which we ignored,” he says with a smile.
They’ve
kept their plan simple and lean, yet they’ve managed to make their warehouse
space comfortable and pleasant. Picking bins tilted on their sides cleverly border
the outdoor patio adjacent to the tracks, and bench seating at tables topped
with burlap tablecloths allow patrons a relaxing space for a BYO-picnic.
Having
the support of the other four establishments on the trail, he says, has been
helpful, because they all encourage and help each other, which leads to
everyone’s success.
“A
rising tide,” Marlow says, “floats all boats.”
For more information and a map of the Off
Market Tasting Trail, visit www.offmarketstreet.com.
