Story
Viña Loriente is a cross-cultural experience. Its owners, Ana Loehnert Loriente and Tim Miklaucic chose the vineyard’s location for its remarkably similar climate, landscape and feel to Ana’s home region of Northern Castile, Spain, and its acclaimed Ribera del Duero wines. Wine making was already a tradition in Ana’s family and Viña Loriente (“viña” is Spanish for vineyard) honors this heritage and the namesake of Ana’s maternal grandfather.
VIÑA LORIENTE
Tim and Ana bring their passion for Spanish culture, food and winemaking to Viña Loriente coupling it with their appreciation for the unique Santa Barbara County experience: One of the oldest Spanish settlements on the US West Coast, surrounded by the ancient Spanish Missions on the old Camino Real, it is home to a vibrant, diverse, and avant-garde community of farmers, vintners, top-notch restauranteurs, as well as horse breeders.
Ana and Tim share their love for nature, conservation, (including biodynamic farming and the farm-to-table approach). They are part of a strong local community which embodies the classic pioneer Wild West spirit with a sunny, laid-back California “surfing and dreaming” approach to life.
ANA LOEHNERT
Ana has been involved in international wine export since 1996, while also pursuing a career as a lawyer and in international film production. She stumbled upon the Santa Ynez Valley while looking for a quiet place to sequester herself for a week with her production partners. They finished writing their screenplay as planned and left, but she fell in love with the Valley forever.
TIM MIKLAUCIC
Tim developed his passion and expertise in fine wines early on in life through many summers of training with his French uncle, an avid collector of great wines in Paris. Tim’s passion for Spanish varieties then developed during his lifetime pursuit to promote the Spanish guitar worldwide as the founder and CEO of Guitar Salon International and Cordoba Guitars.
THE PROJECT
In 2014, Tim and Ana set out to make the best US grown Tempranillo and Verdejo in the style of the great wines from Ribera del Duero and Rueda. They were incredibly fortunate to bring veteran winemaker and agriculturalist Michael Benedict on board from the early planning stages. Michael Benedict was the founder of Sanford & Benedict Vineyard. First planted in 1971, it was named one of the five most important and iconic vineyards in California by Wine Enthusiast.
Forbes Magazine described Michael and his former partner as the two living legends who helped put Santa Barbara County on the world’s wine map! Santa Barbara County has come a long way since then. It was named Wine Region of the Year in 2021 by Wine Enthusiast. Michael remained closely involved with Tim and Ana at Viña Loriente as senior winemaker until his recent passing in July 2023. His legacy is much cherished at Viña Loriente and Tim and Ana are continuing in the same spirit and approach to winemaking.