Alice Anderson and Topher de Felice lease and farm the 10-acre Ibarra-Young Vineyard, one of the oldest in this part of California, in the Los Olivos sub-AVA of Santa Ynez Valley – within the larger Santa Barbara appellation. Originally planted by Charlotte Young (owner) and Miguel Ibarra (vineyard manager) in 1971, the vineyard is still owned by Charlotte’s daughters today, and was in the iconic, pioneering hands of Bob Lindquist from the mid-1970s until the reins were passed to Alice in 2018. It was here that Bob introduced Syrah to the region; Ibarra-Young is now the oldest planting of Syrah in California’s Central Coast.
In addition to Syrah, Ibarra-Young Vineyard is also planted to varieties like Marsanne, Graciano, Tempranillo and many more. It’s part of a larger collective of regenerative farming led by Charlotte’s family – now in the third generation – who have always taken a holistic approach to cultivating this land. In fact, they were, at one point, thinking of taking the grapevines out because of the monoculture associated with growing vitis vinifera (thank goodness they didn’t!).
It’s here that Alice leads the way, amongst an incredible group of like-minded, young, inquisitive and highly talented growers/winemakers in Central Coast (see Lady of the Sunshine, Scar of the Sea, Camins 2 Dreams…). She guides the Âmevive wines to fruition through her regenerative organic and biodynamic farming, and an absolutely minimal approach in the cellar.
Alice cut her teeth in Central Otago, New Zealand (at Amisfield and then biodynamic favourite, Rippon, in Wanaka) and then for two years with Pierre Gaillard in the Northern Rhône, France – a pivotal experience that ultimately shaped the framework that is Âmevive today.
Âmevive translates to notions of a living soul, or a soulful and intangible spirit. Not surprisingly, spending time with Alice in Ibarra-Young showed us that Âmevive encompasses everything about this exceptional vigneronne: Alice, the vineyard, her wines… which are the exciting result of the world that Alice and Topher cultivate together. Elements like the flock of ducks that roam amongst the vines (with lots of good fencing), different wildflower cover crops, no-till, vine tucking and more lend to the pristine grapes that Alice, Topher and friends harvest together for Âmevive each fall.
Their first release was the 2018 vintage, so this is just the beginning. Quantities are exceptionally small, and on tasting them for the first time, brought everything we knew about Californian wines into question. They are light on their feet, moderate in alcohol, have structure in spades and are absolutely luminous in stature and flavour. In addition to making wines from Ibarra-Young, Alice also sources fruit for some bottling from other local organic/biodynamic vineyards in the region.
