CrossHatch Winery was created in 2011 by winemaker Ryan Carr. The winery focuses on co-fermented blends from Santa Barbara County vineyards. After making single varietal wines for eleven years, Ryan wanted to try something different. He and his wine Jessica came up with the idea for CrossHatch, inspired by the classic form of art. Cross hatching is an artistic technique that uses closely spaced intersecting lines to create shading, definition, and form in drawing. Carr took this technique and adapted it into the winemaking process by harvesting multiple varietals on the same day then crushing and fermenting them together. The idea of co-fermented wine is nothing new. Some of the best and oldest wines in the world are made this way, but with the microclimates of Santa Barbara it really adds another layer to the process. Co-fermentation brings out and creates flavors in the wine that would not have existed otherwise. This makes the CrossHatch wine truly one of a kind.
The labels were inspired by the antique winemaking equipment Ryan and his dad have collected over the years. Local Santa Barbara artist, Thomas Van Stein, used the crosshatch technique to draw images of a crusher, corkscrew, basket press, tractor, and more. The illustrations are used on different labels and the images are intended to capture the spirit of the wine in the bottle. Names like Depth, Tone and Shape grace the different blends created and express the unique flavors and aromas in each of the wines.
The CrossHatch tasting room opened in September of 2017 in Solvang, California. Guests can enjoy wine tasting or a glass of wine inside the historic danish style windmill in the heart of downtown Solvang.
