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Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard is located at one of the oldest continuously operated vineyards in California, originally established in 1863 as the Jarvis Brothers' Vineyard. The proprietor, Ken Burnap, started the winery in 1974, setting out to make the finest Pinot Noir possible in California. Ken had done years of research into what conditions were necessary to produce good Pinot Noir and the site of this historic Jarvis Vineyard met all those criteria. Ken hired Jeff Emery in 1979 to pull weeds and help in the cellar. Jeff was a student at UCSC then and just looking for part time work. By the time he graduated (in geology) he was hopelessly seduced by the joys of growing grapes and making wine and is now, all these many years, General Manager and, with Ken consulting, Winemaker. This winery emphasizes working with Santa Cruz Mountains Appellation fruit as much as possible, believing that the region can produce wines of superior quality and longevity. Production is about 2500 cases per year consisting of Pinot Noir (from our Estate vineyard), Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Duriff (Petite Sirah). The winemaking is done in a hands on, low-technology manner, with a winery built on four different levels in order to move grapes and wine by gravity as much as possible. Fermenting caps are punched by hand, except for the Chardonnay which is barrel fermented. Newly pressed wines flow from press to barrel by gravity, and racking is done by siphoning. The style of wines at Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard is one of high extract with strong varietal character and good acid/ fruit balance for many years of aging. Because the wines are of a richer style, the release dates of the new wines are later than is the practice at most wineries. The Pinot Noir is released four years after harvest and the Cabernet Sauvignon is held until five years from the vintage. The underlying philosophy at Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard is quality without compromise of time, effort or expense, in order to maximize the potential inherent in the grapes from this region. Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards is open by appointment only or watch the special events for special events involving the winery.
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