Wineries in the South Valley compare favorably to Napa, Sonoma
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Gilroy – Psst! The South Valley has a secret.
Wanna know what it is?
Family-owned wineries produce award-winning wines from locally grown grapes … right here.
If local wineries are successful in their recent efforts to let more people in on this secret, there could be more vacancies in Napa hotels come the next three-day weekend.
Stretching from Morgan Hill to Casa de Fruta are the South Valley’s hidden gems: Wineries where you’re likely to meet the owner or winemaker pouring in the tasting room; wineries with decades of history that flows down the vines deep into the soil; wineries where the quality is high, the prices are good and the people are friendly.
Maybe you already knew this, but many don’t.
“We get people over at Sycamore Creek who say ‘we didn’t know we had wineries out here,’ ” said Ted Medeiros, winemaker and general manager of Sycamore Creek Vineyards in Morgan Hill. Many times, he said, those people have lived in the area for years.
Now is the time to learn more about the South Valley’s wine region, even if you’re already familiar with it, because it’s enjoying something of a renaissance. A new wave of winemakers and owners are giving this area’s wineries a shot in the arm, hoping to get the word out about the dozen or so vineyards, and to shape the future of the region.
From new or revived events to consolidated marketing, local wineries are hoping to leave their mark on the South Valley.
Name Recognition
The wine industry in the region wasn’t always so hush-hush. A boom period in the 1970s and early ’80s saw write-ups in major publications, but in the following years the local wine industry simmered down, and it eventually fell off the map. The winemakers never stopped producing world-class wines; it’s just that there was very little promotion.
The wineries’ plight wasn’t served by the folding of their previous representative association, the Santa Clara Valley Wine Growers’ Association, which went bankrupt in 2003. While the wineries weren’t in a hurry to re-form that association, they needed something, and have since formed The Wineries of Santa Clara Valley, a group through which they hope to draw more people into tasting rooms.
This new organization already is putting out a brochure that includes a wine map and is putting on a passport weekend in which patrons pay $25, receive a glass and a chance to taste wines and take part in certain activities from barrel tasting to winery tours to getting discounts on purchases at participating wineries.
The new group is also considering other ideas such as having a South Valley wine trail and perhaps a regional logo that would brand the area, letting customers know the winery is part of The Wineries of Santa Clara Valley.
Efforts to get the wines noticed will likely also include winemaker dinners, where patrons can have local wines matched to their dinner and even get to talk to the winemaker about the wines. The wineries are also attempting to get local wines served at area restaurants, and will be putting on the Spring Wine Festival at Casa de Fruta.
“Once people come in and taste the product, they’re here. They’re done,” said Carlo Fortino, the owner of Hecker Pass Winery in Gilroy and fourth-generation winemaker who has spearheaded the region’s revitalization. “That’s what needs to be done.”
Young Blood
Fortino has been spurred on by the infusion of new blood into the region’s wineries. Some of the new energy comes from sons taking over for their fathers; some comes from those just starting in the wine business. Medeiros at Sycamore Creek, Fortino at Hecker Pass, and Mike Sampognaro who recently bought Pedrizzetti Winery in Morgan Hill are just a few.
The older generation continued what generations before started – producing quality wines, and selling them to loyal customers through the tasting room or through other standard means. But the younger generation – more Internet savvy, more aware of the global marketplace – is now looking to get the wines a spot on a broader stage.
They’re thinking of re-establishing some of the tried-and-true methods of getting the public to taste their wines, but they’re also looking at new ideas, such as partnering with the Gilroy Visitors Bureau to become a destination for tourists on the lookout for things to do in South Valley.
The Visitors Bureau is putting a link on its Web site that will lead to a directory for the area’s wineries, which will then let visitors click on any of the wineries’ links, taking them to a page detailing information about the winery and its upcoming events.
“Wineries of Santa Clara Valley is a key part of our outreach to bring people to the area,” said Jane Howard, executive director of the bureau. “Now that they’re getting reorganized, it’s important to let visitors know what we’ve got here. It’ll bring tourism dollars in; it’ll give people a reason to come down for more than just a day – we’ve got Bonfante Gardens, shopping, golf – and wineries.”
Cheaper and Friendlier
There’s another selling point that winemakers hope to capitalize on – the South Valley is not Napa.
“Napa, Sonoma, even, to a lesser degree, Paso Robles – they all charge for tasting,” Fortino said. “They have the buses. You pay; you’re a number, and you leave. They (visitors) drive two-plus hours; they cannot talk to an owner or a winemaker. That’s the difference. We will probably always be family-owned.”
While the South Valley’s tasting rooms may not have the instantly recognizable prestige that comes when someone utters “Napa,” visitors don’t lose out on quality.
“The wines compare very, very well,” Fortino said. “People say ‘how can you compete with Napa?’ We don’t. We’re very friendly; our prices are different.”
“That’s what’s an exciting discovery for people when they come through,” said Gene Guglielmo, of Emilio Guglielmo Winery in Morgan Hill. “The qual-value ratio is excellent.”
Here, too, the wineries are not afraid to send their customers to a different winery down the road, if they think the customer will enjoy the wines there.
“It’s not just a commercial endeavor,” Guglielmo said. “This is our livelihood and we’re proud of it.”
Future of the region
What does all this mean for the future of California’s oldest continually-producing wine region?
“This area of Hecker Pass and Watsonville Road is going to be just huge. It’s really going to get out there so people see, wow, what a gem,” Fortino said.
Guglielmo noted a lot of new vineyards have been planted recently.
“It revives the history of Santa Clara Valley,” he said. “I’m excited about it. I think … by doing cooperative advertising, we’ll become known for what we really are.”
The optimism seems to be catching.
“I really think in the next few years we’re going to rock ‘n’ roll,” Medeiros said. “If we think about the bigger picture and think about the whole area, we’ll prosper.”
