Page 6 - Grapevine SeptOct 2021

In The Winery
DEMETRIA ESTATE WINERY:
All-Natural Wines from Grape to Glass
By: Nan McCreary
W hen John and Sandra Zahoudanis found-
ed Demetria Estate near Los Olivos,
California, in 2006, their goal was to
honor John’s Greek heritage and family tradition
of farming and careful stewardship of the land. To
achieve that objective, they committed to farm
sustainably and biodynamically, using phases of
the planets and the moon to govern farming prac-
tices. These practices, and a natural approach to
winemaking, have led to highly-rated wines and a
reference to Demetria Estate as “one of the hidden
jewels in California.”
While biodynamic farming principles are not
new—the Old Farmer’s Almanac has been rec-
ommending “planting by the moon” since
1792—Demetria Estate was one of the first in
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Santa Barbara County to embrace the concept.
“Biodynamic winemaking is our passion,” the
Zahoudanis’ son, Alexis, who now runs the winery,
told The Grapevine Magazine. “We are trying to
put back in the earth what we’ve taken out, and
we’re doing it in the most natural way possible
while incorporating the lunar calendar.”
Demetria, named for John and Sandra Zahoudanis’
daughter, sits on 213 picturesque acres above
Foxen Canyon in the Santa Ynez Valley. The altitude
of the property ranges from 1,100 to 1,450 feet,
making it one of the highest in the appellation.
When the Zahoudanises purchased the hillside
vineyard from the well-respected Andrew Murray
Family, it was planted exclusively with Rhône vari-
eties. Today, the family farms 43 hillside acres
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