Tag: chardonnay

With a winemaking history that dates back to the time of Spanish missionaries, Livermore Valley is a living legend. It lies less than an hour east of the city of San Francisco and is home to some of California’s most storied wineries. The first international Gold medal awarded to a California wine was a dry 1884 Sauvignon Blanc from Livermore at the 1889 Paris Exposition, and much of the Chardonnay we drink today originated from plantings by Wente Vineyards. Located just about 30 miles east of San Francisco in California’s Tri-Valley region, Livermore Valley is an ideal region to explore.

It’s no coincidence that the timeline of the emergence of California’s Central Coast as a world-class winegrowing region runs parallel with the establishment of J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines. Founder and Proprietor Jerry Lohr is one of the region’s pioneers.

Jerry grew up in a close-knit farming community in South Dakota and had always been knowledgeable and intuitive about optimal crop-growing conditions. In the mid-1970s, when he decided to grow winegrapes in California, Jerry’s instincts led him to two regions located about 75 miles apart along the Central Coast. He chose Monterey County’s Arroyo Seco for its cool, windy climate and rocky soils as ideal for Chardonnay and Paso Robles with its diurnal temperature spreads of nearly 50 degrees and rich soils for Bordeaux varieties.

At the end of a narrow lane lined with Italian olive trees, White Oak Vineyards & Winery welcomes guests to join in the celebration of its unique 35-year heritage of producing distinctive varietals.

The winery was founded in 1981 by Bill Myers, who worked as a building contractor and salmon fisherman in Alaska before moving to Healdsburg and buying his first vineyard. With the help of the renowned MaryAnn Graf, he learned winemaking and began winning awards. Not long after his 1990 Sonoma County Chardonnay won the Sweepstakes Award at the prestigious Sonoma County Harvest Fair, Bill partnered with Don Groth and Burdell Properties and gained access to 750 acres of prime vineyards across Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley and Russian River Valley, as well as the Napa Valley.

For five generations the Wente family has been dedicated to the art of winemaking and the philosophy that the quality of wine originates in the vineyards. The journey began in 1883 when German immigrant and aspiring winemaker, C. H. Wente, moved with his bride Barbara to the Livermore Valley. Since then, through significant contributions made by each generation, Wente Vineyards has thrived and remains the nation’s oldest continuously family-owned and -operated winery.

Hailed as "one of the country’s most sought-after names in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir" by Food & Wine and honored six times by Wine & Spirits as one of the "Top 100 Wineries in the World," Patz & Hall is most certainly a highly revered and innovative winery. Patz & Hall was one of the first wineries to recognize America’s emerging appreciation for great site-specific wines and played a pivotal role in bringing acclaimed vineyard-designate Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs to a wider audience of enthusiasts.

Forty years ago, on May 24, 1976, Steven Spurrier, a British expatriate operating a wine school and store in Paris, invited a panel of eminent French judges to swirl, sniff, and sip, and when their scores were tallied, the judges were shocked: the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, crafted by Miljenko “Mike” Grgich, came out on top.

Time magazine writer George Taber was the only journalist present, and his brief article about The Paris Tasting generated a flood of publicity.

When the talented team of Donald Patz, James Hall, Anne Moses, and Heather Patz founded Patz & Hall in 1988, they were fueled by a shared passion for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. That passion has never waned and, today, Patz & Hall is one of California’s most highly regarded wineries with a portfolio of exceptional single-vineyard Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.