Good Comes from the Glut – Charles Creek Cellars
There has been a lot of publicity about overproduction of grapes over the last few harvests. This can mean lower prices paid to growers for their grapes and more bulk wine on the market. On the plus side, for the consumer, a heavy harvest and more vines coming into full bearing can possibly mean lower bottle prices, better quality wines in low end packaging and, for some emerging wineries, it can mean an opportunity to expand production with grapes from vineyards with a long history of providing quality fruit to the industry.
Gerry and Bill Brinton, proprietors of Charles Creek Cellars, are relative newcomers to the Sonoma County wine scene. Both were raised in the Midwest and cherish memories of generous country vegetable gardens that supplied much of the family fare, so it was only natural that they yearned to return to a more rural life, and eventually moved to an idyllic spot on Sonoma Mountain outside Glen Ellen. Urged on by friends and neighbors, they planted a Chardonnay vineyard, but soon realized Chardonnay was the wrong varietal for their location, so grafted the vines to Merlot. In March 2002 the Brintons had a limited amount of the Merlot from the 2000 vintage made into wine and sent it to market under the name Miradero – the place where they had been married in 1979. There were only 140 cases made, and they sold out immediately, but not before the wine had earned a 90 point score at the California State Fair and a silver medal in Long Beach.
In July of 2002 the Brintons bought the assets of Cale Winery, which included a contract for Chardonnay grapes from Sangiacomo Vineyards. The first Charles Creek Cellars Sangiacomo Chardonnay, bearing the proprietary name “Las Patolitas” – a coined word formed by combining the names of Bill’s grandmother Patty and her best friend Lita - took a gold medal at the 2002 Sonoma County Harvest Fair and Best of Class for Chardonnay selling for under $20 a bottle.
Gerry and Bill hope to reach the 5,000 case level in production by 2004 and reach a maximum production of 7000 cases a year. There is no tasting facility, but the wines are available for purchase on the Website: www.charlescreek.com, or by calling the winery at 707-996-6622
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