Left to right: Norm Yost,
Marianne Strange, Bobby Rickard enjoy wine and tapas at Avant.

"For Flying Goat and my client wines I have utilized Terravant's production services to deal with winemaking challenges, using their state-of-the-art equipment and laboratory services."

Norm Yost
Flying Goat Cellars

Story and Photos by
Kate Griffith

Winemaking is a lifestyle choice for many local residents and tasting what those winemakers produce is a preferred lifestyle “experience” for many visitors to our region.

  Terravant Wine Company in Buellton embodies the ultimate in the winemaking lifestyle through its technology, convenience and elegance. It offers everything from custom crush and alternating proprietor winemaking, to a marketing services design studio and wine supplies retail shop, to a trendy wine and tapas bar. Terravant is a virtual one-stop lifestyle shop.
  Terravant’s recently opened “Avant Tapas and Wine” offers the quintessential marketing of Santa Barbara County’s vintages. It’s already the tasting room for over 30 vintners who produce their wine at Terravant, including: Alere, Alma Rosa, Carivintas, Daniel Gehrs, Departure, Estrella Creek, Falcone Family, Future, Gulleyan, Hartley-Ostini, Huber, Imagine, Ken Brown, Kerr E Nation, Longoria, Malibu Family, Ovene, Pacific Ridge, Pace Family Vineyards, Sort This Out, Summerland, Thorne and Westerly.
  The word “avant” means “stylistically advanced” and Terravant chose the name to reflect the myriad vintners who may be pouring their wines at the contemporary tasting bar and the wide selection of different wines to experience in a self-guided tour using the wine station’s cutting-edge dispensers. Visitors are invited to enjoy a taste, a half or full glass of wine. All of the wines are also available for purchase in the Avant wine shop located on the first floor.
  I recently shared tapas and wine at Avant with winemaker Norm Yost, Marianne Strange and Bobby Rickard. We were curious to check out the new culinary experience in the Valley. We found that Avant’s selection of tapas offers a savory pairing for your favorite wines. We appreciated that they are made fresh throughout the day and evening. Gourmet pizza, hot from the restaurant’s wood-burning oven, is another option. We felt that the casual, celebratory environment makes Avant an ideal location for tapas and wine pairing events.
  Marianne is an air quality control consultant who has been working with Terravant Wine Company on their production facility in Buellton. She shared with us her knowledge of Terravant’s dedication to green living:
  “Terravant designers gave a great deal of thought to reducing green house gases by strategically locating the facility with the closest proximity to the maximum number of vineyards in the area to reduce truck traffic, she said.”
  “They are completely geared to green considerations,” she explained. “They have a full solar array to utilize renewable energy; they have positioned the sky lights to have ample natural lighting by design; and they have used state-of-the-art emission control devices to reduce ethanol, which is a natural bi-product of fermentation.” 
  The first phase of Terravant’s production facility was tailored to meet the needs of small to medium sized winemakers and can process 4,500 tons and produce 300,000 cases annually. The second phase facility, which is currently in the planning stages, will meet the needs of medium to large producers and can process 10,000 tons and produce 800,000 cases annually.
  Small to medium winemakers increasingly choose to be licensed as alternating proprietors (AP vintners), rather than contract for custom crush services. Working with Terravant in this capacity allows them to take advantage of the marketing opportunities of remote wine tasting rooms and national distribution, as well as the “small producer tax credit.”
  For many vintners and their winemakers, control and direct involvement in the wine making process is paramount. Terravant allows vintners who are licensed as APs to have unprecedented operating control of their winemaking processes. Terravant’s goal is to provide the wine-processing infrastructure that makes a winemaker more efficient and provides the ultimate in wine making control. They can do this in a cost effective manner while meeting winemakers’ capacity requirements as they grow their brands.

“Terravant assures that the cost of each case will be defined by their software system and agreed to up front. Profit margins are defined before bringing in the first grape,” Ken says. He likes projections with fixed costs in the volatile wine industry. He also points out that it allows the small wineries to get established without a huge capital outlay.
  Ken also has an office and tasting room at Terravant’s Executive Office Building. He enjoys his proximity to the production facility to keep on top of the winemaking process. His tasting room is on premises and open by appointment.
  Norm Yost, who has his Flying Goat Cellars wine production facility in Lompoc, appreciates the convenience and proximity of Terravant for their al a carte technology and service. “For Flying Goat and my client wines I have utilized Terravant’s production services to deal with winemaking challenges, using their state-of-the-art equipment and laboratory services,” he says.
  Norm Huber also relocated Huber Cellars to Terravant in 2008. He says, “In general I’m happy with the move. Terravant is clean, it’s brand new and has the best equipment that money can buy. The people are very nice.”
  Huber was able to get a Winegrower’s O2 wine license at Terravant, which allows him to have a tasting room there and at his home/estate vineyard located on Highway 246. He now has the option to pour his wine at Avant’s wine bar and enjoy increased visibility in both the tasting room and the wine shop downstairs. The 2007 Huber Estate Pinot Noir is extraordinary, with lingering notes of berry and spice. Norm Yost was the consultant winemaker for Huber Cellars for the 2004-2007 vintages so it is not surprising.  
  We visited Avant at the end of the long holiday weekend so many food selections were unavailable. Yet, the braised oxtail, leeks, sage and grilled polenta were divine and other dishes sounded promising. Marianne proclaimed, “I want to return and eat more of it!”
  And I will certainly be back for the chocolate truffles!