Longoria Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills 2002

Richard Longoria Wines, established in 1982, is a family operated wine business owned by Rick and Diana Longoria. Rick Longoria, who arrived on the local wine scene in 1976, enjoys a long history of involvement in the Santa Barbara county wine industry. In 1976, he became the first cellar foreman for The Firestone Vineyard. By 1982, he felt confident in his skills and in the quality of some of the county's best vineyards to venture into the wine business for himself, and produced 500 cases of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Santa Maria valley vineyards.

In 1985, The Gainey Vineyard lured Rick away from J. Carey Cellars to produce wines for their ambitious and exciting new winery project. During his twelve years as winemaker, Rick's winemaking skills established Gainey as one of the top quality wineries in the area. He also continued to produce very small quantities of Longoria wines, just enough to keep the label active.

In December, 1997, twenty-three years after his first job at a winery and fifteen years after starting his own business, Rick gave up steady employment to devote his full energies to his winery business. On May 1, 1998, Rick and Diana opened the doors to their own tasting room in one of the oldest buildings in downtown Los Olivos. In December 1999, Rick moved his winery operation into his own 5,400 sq. foot building in Lompoc.