I never intended to become a spirits specialist. The opportunity just sort of fell into my lap while I was trying to learn more about wine. Like a million other people out there, I watched the film Sideways back in 2004 and was inspired by the romance of the industry, so I ended up working in a wine store instead of going to law school. Many of my colleagues at K&L during that era were similarly influenced, and we became lifelong friends.

That’s why, when heading up to the Santa Rita Hills on Wednesday morning, the cool morning air hitting my face as I brought my overnight bag to the car, my former K&L colleague Adam Parry (now currently my Chambers & Chambers agent) opened up the passenger side door and said to me: “Are you ready to get your Sideways on, mate?”

It’s been 17 years since that film came out, but the popularity of Pinot Noir has yet to slow down. The prices continue to rise, the demand never seems to cease, and the quality is only getting better. We were heading to the Central Coast to meet with a number of Pinot Noir specialists—namely The Hilt, Foxen, and Liquid Farm—but there’s a lot more happening in Southern California wine country these days beyond Pinot. Having spent very little time exploring the region myself, I was super excited about the next 48 hours.

Since moving to LA, I’ve made a concerted effort to expand my knowledge regarding the Santa Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley AVAs, drinking more local wines over the last year than perhaps the previous five combined. My naivete, coupled with the evolution in the area over the last decade, have left some serious gaps in my wine knowledge that I was looking to fill, but they’ve also allowed for a number of revelations. When you’re confronted with unexpected brilliance, it’s always more exhilarating. Someone pours you a glass of Chardonnay, it blows your mind, and you exclaim: “Where the hell did that just come from?!!!”

Since returning yesterday evening, there’s a lot to tell you about, as well. The quick takeaways that I can give you are this:

• I have no idea when I’ll ever buy a bottle of Napa wine again

• I spent almost $600 of my own cash on winery exclusive single vineyard expressions that completely blew my mind

• There’s so much real, honest, well-made wine between Happy Canyon, Ballard Canyon, and some of the lesser known areas still to explore, that it makes me want to turn right back around this evening and head back up for the weekend

• We’ll be working immediately to source some of the harder-to-find wines directly from the producers starting today, so that you don’t have to drive up there yourself to find them

As to exactly what makes these wines so special, I need to find a few hours to really dig into the details and show you some incredible photos. Stay tuned.

-David Driscoll