Lane Tanner is an American winemaker and

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

. She was the second woman winemaker in Santa Barbara County when she started working in the industry in 1981. She goes by the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

"Pinot Czarina."

Personal life and education

Tanner grew up in

Kelseyville, California Kelseyville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lake County, California, United States. Kelseyville is located southeast of Lakeport, at an elevation of . The population was 3,353 at the 2010 census, up from 2,928 at the 2000 census. Etymo ...

. She graduated from

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

with a degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

in 1976. After graduating, she started working in the

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...

industry. One

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...

she worked in

Glendive, Montana Glendive is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Montana, United States, and home to Dawson Community College. Glendive was established by the Northern Pacific Railway when they built the transcontinental railroad across the northern ...

. After Glendive, she quit her job and moved back to Kelseyville. Tanner was married to the owner of The Hitching Post. Tanner is now married to winemaker Ariki Hill.

Career

In 1980, Tanner started working in the bottling department, putting wine labels on bottles, at Konocti Winery in Kelseyville. When the winery learned that she had studied chemistry she became a lab technician. She worked there for one year and worked with Andre Tchelistcheff. She was suggested by Tchelistcheff for a job at Firestone Winery. She joined Firestone in 1981 as a winemaker. At Firestone she was able to improve her skills in wine tasting and in 1984 she started her on consulting firm. Her first client was making wine for The Hitching Post. She was one of the first winemakers to use Pinot grapes from Bien Nacido Vineyard. In late 2010 she retired from the wine industry. In 2012, Tanner was named winemaker for Sierra Madre Vineyard. At Sierra Madre, she makes Pinot noir,

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

and Pinot blanc wines.

Lane Tanner Winery

Tanner started her own winery in 1989, Lane Tanner Winery. The label became the first in the Central Coast region to devote itself to Pinot noir. The winery is located in the Santa Maria Valley AVA and the first wine was a 1989 vintage. The label made approximately 1,800 cases a year and specialized in

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

. They also made

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse B ...

. The Pinot noir grapes came from three vineyards in Santa Barbara County: Julia's Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyard, and Melville Vineyard. The Syrah grapes came from French Camp Vineyard which is located in

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra founded the Mission ...

. Tanner's wines aim to stay low in alcohol content and

sulfites Sulfites or sulphites are compounds that contain the sulfite ion (or the sulfate(IV) ion, from its correct systematic name), . The sulfite ion is the conjugate base of bisulfite. Although its acid (sulfurous acid) is elusive, its salts are widel ...

. The latter is because Tanner is allergic to them. The Pinot was fermented for over two weeks with

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...

. It was then aged for eleven months in 46 percent

French oak barrels Oak is used in winemaking to vary the color, flavor, tannin profile and texture of wine. It can be introduced in the form of a barrel during the fermentation or aging periods, or as free-floating chips or staves added to wine fermented in a vess ...

. The last vintage was in 2009. The back of her Pinot bottles had the motto: "laugh more- flirt often," written on them.

References

External links

Official website

Lane Tanner's profile on
Sierra Madre Vineyard's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Tanner, Lane Oenologists American consultants People from Santa Barbara County, California People from Lake County, California San Jose State University alumni American women chemists American female winemakers California winemakers Living people People from Glendive, Montana Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women Chemists from California