Loubud Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Blanc de Blancs Sta. Rita Hills 2021

Laura Hughes is the singular Renaissance woman behind the impeccably delectable LouBud. Passionate yet soft-spoken, Laura is a polymath with diverse interests, including tinkering with baking recipes, playing the alto sax, practicing French, and studying chemistry. While growing up in Davis, California, her beloved grandmother shared an article on the wine business's dynamic women shattering glass ceilings. It inspired Laura and influenced her to attend the University of California, Davis, conveniently located in her backyard. There, her eyes were opened to the exciting world of wine by Hildegarde Heymann, a mentor and female professor of enology originally from South Africa. Laura took a few months off from her studies at Davis to work a harvest at Schramsberg, the pre-eminent producer of sparkling wine here in Napa. The traditional, artisanal winemaking style and focus on single vineyards at Schramsberg most informed her bubbly philosophy.

Having grown up in Davis and then matriculated there, Laura longed to stamp her passport and broaden her horizons by working abroad. Receiving the prestigious Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin Scholarship enabled her to spend a harvest at the iconic Domaine de la Vougeraie in Burgundy. While there, she helped craft some of their classic Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs- sourced from nine different Grand Crus. After graduating in 2010, she alternated between several harvests in South Africa and the legendary Dalla Valle Vineyards in Oakville. Alas, a rolling stone grows no moss, and Laura eventually realized that it was time to plant roots somewhere in Wine Country. And there were few places better suited to the varietal she was most passionate about, Pinot Noir, than Santa Barbara County. A bonus: this is a stunningly beautiful part of California, considered by many to be the American Riviera. In 2012, she was hired at Sanford Winery & Vineyards to produce their estate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and today, Laura is the associate winemaker. She began her passion project, Loubud (a childhood nickname bestowed by her father), with just 1 ton of fruit in 2015.

As the associate winemaker at Sanford Winery & Vineyards, Laura is granted access to the coveted fruit from the historic Sanford & Benedict Vineyard, and Michael Benedict is a mentor and longtime supporter of her Loubud brand. In the early 1970s, Michael Benedict and his friend Richard Sanford were hunting for a cool climate region and location with just enough heat accumulation to ripen, but not over-ripen, wine grapes. After incredible research, observation, data collection, and analysis, Michael believed he had found the perfect location - a unique part of the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County and right to the foot of the property that would ultimately become the Sanford & Benedict vineyard. They planted the first vines in 1973, and soon, the Pinot Noir from this remote vineyard created a buzz. Others soon followed, wanting to capture the magic of this place, and the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard would eventually form the backbone of what is now the Sta. Rita Hills AVA.

2021 is Laura's third vintage of Blanc de Blancs from Sanford & Benedict. She produced just 65 cases of the wine and crafted the bubbles in the traditional méthode champenoise. This technique means the secondary fermentation and aging took place in the bottle and on the lees over a period of 28 months. After disgorgement in May 2024, Laura added a 4g/L dosage to the bottles. Alluring hints of honeysuckle, citrus blossoms, and pear open the nose and lead into a smooth, almost waxy palate with tiny bubbles and delightful notes of quince, toasted brioche, and lemon zest.