Tag: Edna Valley

A passion for the French province of Alsace and the desire to create delightfully different wines inspired Claiborne (Clay) Thompson and Fredericka Churchill to found their boutique winery in 1983 in San Luis Obispo, California. Fredericka and Clay met when they taught language and literature at the University of Michigan. In 1981 they left "the groves of academe" for the vineyards of California, settling in the heart of the Edna Valley along California’s Central Coast. Their inaugural vintage of 565 cases of Dry Gewürztraminer and Dry Riesling confirmed the couple’s conviction that the Edna Valley was indeed an ideal site to grow aromatic grapes.

To fully appreciate the wines of Edna Valley Vineyard in San Luis Obispo, California, one must have an appreciation for the valley where they begin. Millions of years ago, this east-west oriented valley was part of what is now the pacific ocean. Bordered in three directions by mountains and hills (the Santa Lucia Mountains to the northeast, low rolling hills to the southeast, and the San Luis range to the southwest), and Los Osos Valley to the north, it forms an ideal pocket for grape growing. A gap exists in the perfect place—where Los Osos Valley meets the ocean in Morro Bay, providing a natural wide-mouth funnel of cool marine air.