Tag: Tempranillo

At Six Sigma Ranch in Lower Lake, California, art is science—and perfecting the art of wine begins in the vineyards. Owner Kaj Ahlmann, a practiced mathematical statistician, applies the Six Sigma philosophy to the old-world art of winemaking in order to handcraft each bottle of wine to be as good as the next.

The management practice of Six Sigma focuses on the pursuit of perfection. However, one must not be fooled into thinking that quality is all about control.

It has been 20 years since the founder of Abacela, Earl Jones, planted the first Tempranillo in the Pacific Northwest. In 1992, his passion for the grape and a good deal of scientific analysis was strong enough to justify a move for Earl and his wife Hilda from the Gulf Coast to Southern Oregon’s Umpqua Valley. Here, Earl found the land he dreamed of, resting over an ancient geological fault with steep hillsides featuring an exciting diversity in soil types, microclimates, and sun exposures. What’s more, at 43 degrees North latitude, the land occupied a similar geographic position as sections of northern Spain.

For more than one hundred years, the George Mettler family has farmed Harney Lane, a 100-acre parcel of land just east of Lodi, California. But it wasn’t until 2006 that they decided to venture into winemaking.

Everyone rolled up their sleeves. Jorja Lerner, a member of the family’s fifth generation, left her career as a physical therapist. Her husband Kyle—who jokes that farming is legalized gambling with more variables—took on added responsibilities to manage the winery; while Jorja’s mother, Kathleen, applied her strong hospitality skills to organizing the tasting room. Even Jorja and Kyle’s two children, who represent Harney Lane’s sixth generation, played a part. The family now has complete control of their wines from the vineyard, to the bottle, to the consumer. All the grapes are hand picked, hand sorted, then fermented in small lots and barrel aged.