This story is part of our April 2021 issue. To subscribe, click here.
In most years, Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys hummed with energy
and activity. During concert weekends at the vineyard’s Ironstone
Amphitheatre, where artists like Willie Nelson and John Fogerty
have played, up to 5,000 people a day would come through the
vineyard’s tasting room. The winery’s wine club members would
arrive early for private, pre-concert parties inside the wine
cave. Weddings, corporate events and holiday brunches crowded the
calendar. Guests and groups toured the vineyard’s lakes, lush
gardens, wine caverns and mining museum; shopped at the jewelry
store; and dined at Gold Leaf Bistro. The world’s largest
specimen of crystalline gold leaf, weighing 44 pounds, is on
display in a vault in the tasting room.
Founded in 1989, Ironstone is owned by the Kautz family,
fourth-generation growers, but the Ironstone empire started with
the wine cave. “Before they did anything, they just started
blasting into the side of the hill there,” says Daniel Kushnir,
director of sales and marketing. It took a crew of professional
miners nearly a year to create the caverns, which are used for
wine storage due to the consistent temperature. “Once the caves
and the breezeway had been made, they saw what they had and said,
‘Maybe we should do a little more.’”
That urge to do a little more has helped raise the game of wine
regions throughout the Capital Region. No longer content to cower
in the shadow of Napa, a handful of larger wineries like
Ironstone, Helwig Winery in Plymouth and Michael David Winery in
Lodi have upped the ante by providing an array of events,
amenities, curated experiences and award-winning wines. With
daytrip-worthy destinations anchoring wine regions like
Shenandoah Valley in Amador and El Dorado counties, Fair Play in
El Dorado County, Lodi, and Clarksburg, oenophiles no longer need
to pay the higher prices and drive to Napa to get a world-class
winery experience.
Michael David Winery’s spacious gardens and its restaurant, The
Farm Cafe, allowed the winery to thrive during the pandemic.
Although the events side of wineries suffered greatly during the
coronavirus pandemic, online wine sales soared. In June 2020, a
Sonoma State University Wine Business Institute report projected
that the California wine industry would lose more than $4 billion
due to the pandemic. However, extra space and on-site eateries
gave larger wineries an advantage in meeting social distancing
and requirements that food must be purchased. And with many of
these wineries planning to restart parties and concerts in 2021
amid heightened consumer interest, local wine tourism and events
businesses could come back stronger than ever.
It’s About More Than Wine
In Amador County, the history of California winemaking has seeped
into the soil. In the mid-1850s, European immigrants planted some
of the state’s oldest grapevines, some of which produce fruit to
this day. Still, when Helwig founders Dave and Nancy Helwig first
came to the region decades ago for wine tasting, there were only
a handful of wineries. Today, Amador County has more than 40
wineries, with none perhaps more spectacular than Helwig, which
opened in 2004.
Dave Helwig’s interest in grape growing began with a small
vineyard planted in his backyard. Today, Helwig grapes grow
across 60 acres between four vineyards in two counties. As
respected as the Amador County wine scene is in California,
Helwig believes it can grow to become a real tourist destination.
“I think we need more infrastructure in terms of hotels and
restaurants and things like that,” he says. “The wines are
beginning to become better known, but we do need more
infrastructure in terms of places for people to stay.”
The crown jewel in the Helwig Winery empire is the sprawling and
scenic property in Plymouth. Besides the tasting room, vineyards
and panoramic views of the Shenandoah Valley, the property
includes wine caves, olive orchards, a farm-to-table restaurant,
a corporate events center, a 6,000-square-foot country estate and
an outdoor concert venue. Pablo Cruise and Micky Dolenz played
there in 2019, and although the pandemic ended concerts in 2020,
the venue has booked acts such as Starship and Blood, Sweat &
Tears for this summer.
Helwig Winery features wine caves and an outdoor concert venue.
Dave Helwig and his wife, Nancy, opened the winery in 2004.
Despite the closures, cancellations and limits on tastings, its
additional space and resources allowed Helwig Winery to navigate
the pandemic better. “We have our kitchen that is open seven days
a week, which allowed us to be able to stay open where others
couldn’t,” says Kathleen Mahan, the winery’s director of events
and culinary services. “There’s been lots of things by being so
large that we’ve been able to keep our staff employed and keep
wine flowing for the public.”
Mahan believes the pandemic restrictions forced the winery to
better curate experiences for its customers. “Being
reservation-only really allows us to have that connection with
the customer,” she says. “Before, we were fortunate to have a
larger tasting-room space, and it could be pretty wild and crazy
in there. Now you’re having that one-on-one experience, and I
think that that really is going to be what guides us moving
forward.”
If the curated and personalized experiences at Helwig Winery
sound like fine dining, then the setup at Old Sugar Mill in
Clarksburg resembles an upscale buffet. Fourteen area wineries
operate tasting rooms inside the enormous structures that
formerly housed a beet sugar refinery, constructed in 1934. “We
are like the mall of wineries,” says Rachelle Wiggins, the
wedding director at Old Sugar Mill, and the variety of events at
the spacious and picturesque facility rival the variety of
wineries.
Old Sugar Mill, which opened in 2005, is a popular spot for
weddings, corporate events, bridal showers, birthday parties,
family gatherings and live performances, including a Tower of
Power concert in 2019. (One of those wineries, Bump City Wine
Co., is co-owned by Roger Smith, the band’s keyboardist.) “We can
really capitalize on the fact that we have acres and acres of
outdoor space that we can host events in,” Wiggins says.
“Typically, people are very drawn to our indoor spaces for our
weddings, but we have outdoor spacing as well, and we think that
we’ll see more use of that.”
Although it expects the events business to rally in 2021, Old
Sugar Mill also wants to increase awareness about its wine and
tastings. Wiggins says she is surprised by how many people
outside the immediate Sacramento area don’t know the Old Sugar
Mill exists. “We have various marketing that we do for our
weddings and events, but we’ll be expanding our marketing for
radio as well as print to get the word out for wine tasting,”
Wiggins says.
Working to Raise Awareness
At Sentivo Vineyards & Winery in Somerset, owner Daniela Devitt
faces a similar problem. Its tasting room is a favorite among El
Dorado County locals and wine lovers in Western Nevada, where
Devitt estimates that 35 percent to 40 percent of Sentivo’s wine
club members reside. But awareness of Fair Play among Sacramento
wine drinkers remains relatively low, she says. “In Nevada,
especially Reno, Carson City, all of that, we are their Napa, and
they’ve known about us for a long time,” Devitt says. “We just
need Sacramento to know we’re here.”
Michael David Winery is owned by Dave and Michael Phillips,
fifth-generation farmers. Haily Cortez pours wine at the Lodi
winery.
Devitt didn’t even know about the Fair Play American Viticultural
Area until she visited to taste wine in 2010. She and her family
were so impressed by the beauty of the area, they soon purchased
the 20-acre property in Somerset.
“It’s what Napa was back in the ’80s and the ’90s,” says Devitt
of the Fair Play wine region. “Most of the time, when you come to
Napa, you’re not going to meet the families that own the winery
and really get immersed in their winery experience and
techniques.” And many Napa area wineries now buy grapes from the
Fair Play region. “We have a microclimate here that just lends
itself to so many different varietals,” she says.
Sentivo had its first harvest in 2011 and opened the tasting room
about five years later. Today, the property includes 5 acres of
petite sirah, syrah and pinot noir grapes, plus a high-ceilinged
“urban rustic” tasting room; a firepit with seating for 16; a
picnic area; and ample grounds and venue space for events. In
contrast to the industrial aesthetic at Old Sugar Mill, Sentivo
features more of a Tuscan-winery look.
Wise Villa Winery in Lincoln also emulates a Tuscan setting,
although it appeared much humbler when the winery opened in 2011.
What started as a tiny tasting bar has grown in the last decade
to become a 13,000-square-foot Italian villa with sunset views of
the vineyards and the Sacramento Valley.
During the pandemic, Wise Villa was able to put its copious
outdoor space to use. The winery started offering wine walks,
which included a discounted glass of wine and a meal and allowed
diners to practice social distancing while wandering through the
35-acre vineyards.
Barring any COVID-related setbacks, the Placer County winery
plans a full event schedule in 2021, including a 10th-anniversary
party for its long-time wine club members. Other regular events
at Wise Villa include a bimonthly wine blending dinner, a
Hawaiian luau and the annual Lucy Grape Stomp, which honors a
famous episode of “I Love Lucy.”
Placer County may not have the name recognition of Napa or
Sonoma, but the region boasts a rich history of grape-growing.
“At one point in time,” says Sarah Lemberg, Wise Villa’s vice
president of sales and marketing, “there were more grapes grown
in the Sierra Foothills than Napa and Sonoma combined. We have
this legacy.” Wise Villa continued that legacy by winning the
Golden State Winery of the Year award at the 2015 California
State Fair, then took home 27 medals at the San Francisco
Chronicle Wine Competition in 2019.
Grover Lee, whose background is in biochemistry, is the owner,
founder and winemaker at Wise Villa, and he also lives on the
property. His children and grandchildren also hold positions at
the winery. “(Lee) comes to a family party every day,” Lemberg
says. “You’re bound to run into at least three family members any
day you’re there.”
In the Lodi American Viticultural Area, there is a strong link
between the Phillips family heritage and the history of Lodi
wine. Dave and Michael Phillips’ great-great-grandparents started
farming the Lodi soil in 1865, and their parents ran roadside
fruit stands in the area for decades. Today, the fifth-generation
farmers own Michael David Winery, and the sixth and seventh
generations are already working the land.
“We were one of the few wineries in the county that (was)
grandfathered in to have a restaurant and food service since
we’re still on agricultural land,” says Dave Phillips. “It’s
pretty impossible to have a winery with a restaurant these days
(in San Joaquin County), but that kind of sets us apart.”
Michael David’s restaurant, The Farm Cafe, and spacious gardens
allowed the winery to thrive during the pandemic. However,
Phillips also believes a key factor driving the popularity of
Lodi wine is a value-to-quality ratio he calls the best in the
industry. “We sell high-quality, 90-point-plus wines, and we can
still offer them to people for affordable prices,” he says. “I
would say the average bottle of Lodi wine is around $20. You’re
not going to find that in Napa.”
When the pandemic hit, Phillips feared he would have to lay off
employees. But sales of Michael David brands off-site instead
increased in 2020, which mirrored a larger trend, according to a
report commissioned by the Wine Institute, an advocacy group for
California’s wine industry based in Sacramento.
Jon Moramarco of bw166, which provides research and advisory
services for alcoholic beverage companies, found that the overall
volume of U.S. wine purchased in 2020 increased slightly.
However, consumer spending fell almost 10 percent due to a
decrease in restaurant sales and on-site consumption. Last
summer, Moramarco estimated the pandemic would cost the U.S. wine
industry $5.94 billion.
“Some of the wineries that have more of their distribution at
grocery stores are doing OK because the consumers are doing a lot
of channel shifting,” says Gladys Horiuchi, director of media
relations at the Wine Institute. “They can’t go to restaurants
anymore, so they’re buying their wine at grocery stores instead.”
Ready for the Recovery
A similar dynamic emerged at Ironstone in Murphys, a town with
more than two dozen tasting rooms, despite a population of about
2,000 people.
“A lot of people are out of jobs, so it doesn’t feel great saying
it, but the truth is that our wine sales, at least in terms of
online and delivery and shipping, has exponentially grown,”
Kushnir says. He credits the uptick in sales in part to the
area’s large retirement community discovering modern ways to buy
wine. “They weren’t so accustomed to getting on their phone and
downloading our app and ordering food for pickup or ordering wine
for delivery,” he says.
It doesn’t hurt that the weather and atmospheric conditions of
the Murphys area make it ideal for top-notch wine grapes. “We
have something that Napa doesn’t have, which is a natural air
conditioner that is the Sierra foothills,” Kushnir says. “We can
have warm days, real cool nights and no humidity. We’re not
fighting against the mildew, mold, rot, things like that.”
Wineries have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic like most
businesses, but wineries like Ironstone are potentially poised to
lead the recovery. When the Ironstone Amphitheatre starts booking
concerts again, thousands of tourists will flock to the area to
spend money. “When we bring 6,500 people to a concert, everybody
in town reaps the benefits of that,” Kushnir says. “They’re going
to want to go eat before, maybe do a little shopping, a little
tasting before the concert.”
One can almost hear the hum of energy and activity again.
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