Sandhi, an ancient Sanskrit word meaning alliance or collaboration, reflects the partnership of its creators. Founded in 2010 by Rajat Parr, the wine director for Mina Group restaurants, Charles Banks, the former owner of Jonata Wines and Screaming Eagle, and esteemed winemaker Sashi Moorman, Sandhi Wines is a boutique California winery focusing on select Santa Barbara County vineyards. Sandhi represents a union essential to the production of wine: the collaboration between man, earth, and vine. The willing participation of all three elements is necessary to make great wine, and the winegrower must make this collaboration rich and nourishing for all involved. An understanding of these joint efforts informs Sandhi's exploration of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines throughout the Santa Barbara County terroir. The individual vineyards from which these grapes originate–some legendary, some new–have been exhaustively vetted for character, personality, and balance. Wines exhibiting extreme ripeness, alcohol, oak, and other discordant exaggerations cannot truly express a specific vineyards terroir. Employing the wisdom and talents of people who know the vineyards, Sandhi is dedicated to making wines of finesse, minerality, acidity, structure and balance. Wine achieves power and beauty through the seamless integration of these qualities, and this is the inspiration for Sandhi.
