| Mountain Drive in Santa Barbara in the 1950s was | | | | the house of what was then one of the principle |
| a center of bohemian life, inspired in part, by Jack | | | | actors on Mountain Drive. David has resuscitated, |
| Kerouac's 'On the Road'. Located in, what was | | | | after more than 20 years absence, one of |
| then, an isolated area in the mountains above | | | | Mountain Drive's most cherished celebrations - the |
| Montecito, a rich enclave then as now, and | | | | Mountain Drive Wine Stomp and the choosing of a |
| because of its then isolation, of cheap land - | | | | Wine Queen. |
| $1,000.- $2,000 an acre. Almost all Mountain | | | | Today, because of technological advances, only |
| Drivers built their own houses with the help of | | | | children are allowed to stomp. Being lighter they |
| their friends and neighbors and often without the | | | | are gentler. In the good old days the whole |
| benefit of plans or permits. | | | | community got into the vat and preferably naked. |
| Many, if not most, had day jobs but in the | | | | The wine did not turn out half as well. |
| evenings and weekends they became true | | | | The bohemian spirit may have vanished, children |
| bohemians living their iconoclastic fantasies. They | | | | rebel against their parents, and these are mostly |
| celebrated everything worth celebrating, Robert | | | | the second generation Mountain Drivers, and |
| Burns Birthday, Bastille Day, Twelfth Night, the | | | | maybe, just maybe, sitting on million dollar |
| summer and winter equinox, sunset and above all | | | | properties is inhibiting, but they still have a good |
| the grape harvest. Wine was the social lubricant in | | | | time and the spirit is there. Hopefully the tradition |
| an age where the dry martini reigned, and the | | | | will survive. |
| wine of preference was Zinfandel from a small | | | | Although never a part of this culture Santa |
| family winery in San Luis Obispo. | | | | Barbara Winery, and in fact, the whole wine |
| A Hollywood movie Seconds starring Rock | | | | industry in Santa Barbara County owes a debt to |
| Hudson includes the wine stomp as a central part | | | | these pioneers and their love of the grape. |
| of their narrative. Filmed on site and with real | | | | There is a book, Mountain Drive, compiled and |
| Mountain Drivers as extras. | | | | edited by Elias Chiacos, published by Shoreline |
| Our first winemaker at Santa Barbara Winery | | | | Press, P.O. Box 3562, Santa Barbara, CA 93130, |
| was from Mountain Drive, an Optometrist by | | | | that covers this early history of Mountain Drive |
| trade, but a bohemian by choice. What started | | | | with an ample selection of photos. |
| this train of thought is that David Lafond lives in | | | | |