Own-root Martini, since 1972

What does an own-root Martini vine, planted in 1972, still give the glass? Clark and Telephone is the oldest producing vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley. The vines went in own-root, to the Martini clone, near the corner of Clark Avenue and Telephone Road. This bottle is the 2024 Pinot Noir from that ground.

The label prints Santa Maria Valley and Santa Barbara County. Wine-Searcher places the 2024 in the Santa Maria Valley. Fog and wind move inland from the Pacific along the Santa Maria River and cool the mesa. The house calls the Martini clone a lost treasure, one of the first Pinot selections on the California coast.

The winery shop lists this 2024 at $55. That is the winery price. The bottle here is $40. Six are $240 and twelve are $480, with free shipping on twelve outside Hawaii and Alaska.

Clark Avenue and Telephone Road

The rows sit where the river channel lets the ocean in. Wind and fog snake along the Santa Maria River and sit on the vineyard. The original vines are still in the ground. Own-root means the Martini clone was planted on its own roots, not on a grafted trunk, and those vines are still producing.

Joe Wagner's stated aim for each Belle Glos Pinot is the same. He wants the site to show, in a layered, fruit-forward, rich style that the California coast can carry. Clark and Telephone is the spice and the age of the valley. The 2024 is that vineyard, not the anniversary blend and not another site's fruit.

Picked when the canes go copper

Harvest waits for the canes to lignify and take a copper color. That is the house sign that harsh green tannin has left the vine. Dry ice is layered on the clusters in the vineyard so the skins start to give up color and flavor before the tank.

At the winery the fruit is destemmed, then held cold for three to four weeks. The long cold ferment is how the cellar gets supple tannin and a deep color. Barrels are steamed before the wine goes in, to draw off coarse wood tannin. Nothing is watered back, sugared, or acidified.

Fog, river wind, and the old vines

Give the 2024 a few minutes in the glass. The place is a cool mesa and an old Martini vineyard, so the fruit should read as Pinot from the Santa Maria Valley rather than as a soft coastal blend. The house style is fruit-forward and rich, with the site still in charge.

Wine-Searcher, checked on 2026-10-29, put the U.S. market low at $38.59 and the average at $45.24. This bottle is $40. Members type FEATURED20 at checkout for an extra 20 percent off. The corner carries the low, the average, and our price.

The oldest vines in the valley

The film on this page is the winery's own brand overview. It is Belle Glos speaking for the house, not a shop tasting. Joe Wagner founded the label in 2001. The name, pronounced bell gloss, honors Lorna Belle Glos Wagner, who co-founded Caymus in 1972.

Add the 2024 Belle Glos Clark and Telephone Pinot Noir at $40. The winery price is $55. Six bottles are $240 and twelve are $480. Type FEATURED20 at checkout for an extra 20 percent off.

Belle Glos, Brand Overview. The winery's own film.

At the table

Grilled salmon is the clean plate. A browned fillet and lemon let the Santa Maria fruit stay in front. The acid in a coastal Pinot is what keeps the fish from sitting heavy.

Roast duck is the richer plate. Skin and rendered fat ask for the fruit-forward style the house builds on purpose. Open the 2024 while the duck rests.