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A Rhône of Our Own

ON A CRISP, CLEAR SUNDAY AFTERNOON, winemaker Leon Santoro proudly points out his gold-medal-winning Viognier vines growing on a lovely hillside at Orfila Vineyards in Escondido’s San Pasqual Valley. That’s right, Escondido.

“I came to San Diego from Napa Valley because the climate and terrain of this valley are more like [France’s] southern Rhône than any wine-growing region in the U.S.,” says Santoro, California Travel Industry’s 2003 Winemaker of the Year.

Viognier (pronounced VEE-uhn-yay), the star white grape of the Rhône Valley, is a notoriously finicky grape that’s difficult to grow and seldom successful outside the region that has been its home since the first century. But now the San Pasqual Valley, San Diego’s emerging viticultural region, could well be the first bona fide Rhône Valley competitor, thanks to Orfila’s Lotus 45 Viognier.

Lotus 45 was one of only three U.S. wines awarded a gold medal in a blind taste test at the prestigious Bordeaux, France, Challenge International du Vin, beating out more than 5,300 competitors. Stateside, it garnered 98 out of 100 points at the California State Fair Wine Competition. Since 1994, Orfila has racked up more than 1,100 awards for red and white vintages, including a gold medal and Best of Class at the 2007 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for its 2004 Sangiovese, besting neighboring Napa and Sonoma wineries on their own turf.

Italian-born Santoro shares credit for Orfila’s success with Alejandro Orfila, a third-generation winemaker, whose commitment to the winery is making the San Pasqual Valley an appellation to rival those in French and Napa regions——and San Diego’s destination for an afternoon in wine country. 760-738-6500; orfilavineyards.com.
——JOAN HEALY

Art in Action

LANDSCAPE PAINTER Astrid Preston typically works alone in the quiet of her Santa Monica studio, a panoramic view of Los Angeles outside her window. “It’s very meditative,” she says. “Nobody sees me working.”

Until now. Anyone can walk into the Lux Art Institute and peer over Preston’s shoulder as she paints two pieces for this interactive museum set into an Encinitas hillside. Preston and a sampling of her work are on view through March 22 as part of Lux’s artist-in-residence program, begun in November with Chilean artist Tomás Rivas. Another Lux program, the Valise Project, brings portable works of art into classrooms and senior centers across the county.

“Visual art is all about creating something you can see,” says Lux director Reesey Shaw. “Somebody’s making something that’s evolving. It’s like a baby being born.”

Preston will be painting and taking questions from visitors, who can look at the nearby hillside being captured on canvas. It’s a daunting thought for someone used to working alone. “I’m going to learn a lot about my own work by learning about how people perceive things,” she says.

Lux visitors receive free admission to the San Diego Museum of Art, where Preston’s painting Surrender is displayed in the exhibition “Plein Art Past and Present.” At 1550 South El Camino Real, Lux is open Thursday and Friday 1 to 5 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 760-436-6611; luxartinstitute.org.
——ELIZABETH FITZSIMONS

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