I've been reading VictorGeraci's book "Salud!" on the rise of SantaBarbara's wine
industry. Quite an interesting story w/ lots of familiar names in there.
The Miller's (Bob & Steve) lost their holdings down Ventura way to the Feds for PointMagu base. They subsequently bought the RanchoTepesquet property and planted it to row crops. Noting the growth of vnyds nearby (RanchoSisquoc, Nielson, Tepusquet), they planted 640 acres of grapes in '72. They hired DaleHampton to plant their vnyd. One of the things he pioneered was the use of steel stakes on the trellising, instead of the customary wooden posts. People started to call it the "CadillacVnyd" for this. So the Millers decided to call it BienNacido, a Mexican expression for being born with a silver spoon in your mouth.
Now you know the rest of the story.
I have, of course, followed SantaBarbara wines from the very start. Following in the footsteps of BobSenn. The first ones I had were not particularly good (TepesquetVnyds, LosAlamosVnyds of SamHale/MaryVigorosa, ZacaMesa), rather quotidian. But interesting character that made me think the area had potential. Little did I know. In those earlier yrs, most of the grapes went North to go into blends by the biggies.
Tom