In 1855, Juan Pacifico Ontiveros rode into the Santa Maria Valley on the Rancho Tepusquet land grant and put down roots that have never pulled up. Nine generations later, his descendants are still farming and ranching the very same ground, and Native9 is the wine that grew out of all that history, estate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that taste, first and foremost, real.

Nine generations on the same land

There are old families in California wine, and then there is the Ontiveros line, which traces its place in the Santa Maria Valley to 1855 and the Rancho Tepusquet land grant. Seven generations have farmed and ranched this ground continuously, through droughts, booms, and the slow transformation of cattle country into one of the great cool climate wine regions in the state. The label name, Native9, marks the ninth generation of the family in California.

That kind of continuity is impossible to fake and impossible to copy. The wines carry it the way a face carries a family resemblance. As the family puts it, the story is not always pretty and seldom romantic, but it is, first and foremost, real. Native9 and its estate label Ranchos de Ontiveros are the modern chapter of a story almost two centuries long.

Two estate vineyards with deep roots

The wines come from two estate vineyards, both farmed by the family. Rancho Ontiveros grows the Pinot Noir, planted by James Ontiveros in 1997 on the same land his parents had bought to raise cattle and a young family. Rancho Viñedo grows the Chardonnay on a parcel of the original Rancho Tepusquet land grant, the literal ground that brought Juan Pacifico to the valley in the first place. Few estate wines anywhere can claim a more direct line between the vine and the history.

The Santa Maria Valley is a cool, fog washed, ocean facing appellation, open to the Pacific at its western mouth so marine air pours in daily. That chill stretches the growing season and locks acidity into the fruit, which is exactly what Pinot Noir and Chardonnay need to develop complexity without losing freshness. Old World inspired and site driven, these wines are as much a product of the terroir as of the careful human hands that farm it.

The people behind the wine

James Ontiveros is the farmer and proprietor, the generation who planted Pinot Noir at Rancho Ontiveros and then went out to learn. He worked in vineyards on the Sonoma Coast and in the Russian River Valley, driving home to Santa Maria on weekends to tend his own vines, and in 2003 he made the first of many pilgrimages to Burgundy, tasting in the cellars of Domaine Dujac, Domaine Leflaive, and Domaine Romanee-Conti and bringing the lessons of biodynamic farming home.

The wines since the 2016 vintage are made by Justin Willett, born and raised in Santa Barbara County and one of the most respected winemakers working there today. A friendship with James, built on a shared love of Burgundy and a mutual taste for restrained, elegant Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, brought him into the fold. Between them, the family history and the winemaking talent point in exactly the same direction.

What to pour it with

A restrained, cool climate Pinot Noir like this belongs with duck. Sear a breast and pour it alongside, where the bright acidity of the wine cuts the rich duck fat while its earthy, savory notes meet the meat on shared umami ground. Mushrooms in any form bridge to the same forest floor character, and a piece of grilled salmon, fatty enough to stand up to a red, makes a quieter but equally happy match.

The Chardonnay, taut and mineral from the cold Santa Maria fog, loves shellfish. Pour it with Dungeness crab, scallops, or a lemon and herb roast chicken, where its acidity keeps everything bright and its texture matches the richness of the plate. And since this is Santa Maria, do not overlook the local table, a Pinot Noir next to red oak grilled tri tip with pinquito beans and salsa is a regional pairing earned over generations of the same families eating and drinking the same ground.

Native9 and Ranchos de Ontiveros: common questions