Hip Tastes Blog

False Start
In 1973 Dave and Anne Moulton moved into the more than 100-year-old red school house founded back in the day by Santa Cruz mountains pioneer Lyman Burrell and started a winery. During their first attempt at grape growing and winemaking at the gorgeous spot located at 1,600 feet in rugged terrain they "did everything wrong," says Anne.

With no formal education in running a winery or growing grapes, the two candidly sum up their first go at things as "a big failure." Now, more than 30 years later, the Moultons still live in the school house, and they've improved considerably in their winemaking prowess. So considerably much that they're now considered one of the preeminent producers in the Santa Cruz region and make a deliciously varied lineup of wines that I was lucky enough to taste last weekend during a delightful harvest-time visit to the winery. (Pictured with Anne & Dave.)

A country picnic vibe
My sister and I were greeted warmly by the Moultons and members of the Burrell School Vineyards crew when we arrived for our tasting and tour. It was a Saturday, one of the three days of the week when the winery is open to the public (it's also open Fridays and Sundays), and the place was teeming with visitors. But not in a commercial and crowded way like you can sometimes experience in the state's more popular wine regions. Instead, it was in a convivial, country picnic sort of way.

The tasting room is located in the old teacher's carriage house situated adjacent to the school house, and visitors amble up the stairs to the interior tasting room in groups, then flow out onto the deck to taste their wine and enjoy the magnificent view. There's absolutely no sense of urgency at the place - folks, in fact, seemed to feel right at home spending a half hour or more relaxing in the early autumn sunshine with their feet up while sipping leisurely on the good stuff. It was exactly what a winery ought to be: chill.

Doing their homework
As I mentioned, we had the opportunity to chat for a good amount of time with Anne and Dave, whose entrepreneurial spirit and passion for their operation is clear and inspiring. After their initial failure at the place, the couple did their homework.

A stint at Davis for Dave and research on Anne's part helped them avoid mistakes they'd made the first time around, when they admittedly botched everything from root stock selection to irrigation system design. Their efforts and commitment to Burrell School Vineyards paid off: their wines have lately been showered with awards and recognition, including gold and silver medals from the San Francisco Chronicle wine competition, Best of State @ the California State Fair (Cab Franc) and many, many more.

Longest internship EVER
Here's a great story: Anne told us about how she planted 3,200 vines on the property in one run near the beginning of the operation, with each vine taking approximately 10-15 minutes to plant. I did the math and WOW - that comes out to about 40,000 minutes of planting, which is the equivalent of about 16 weeks of labor (assuming a 12.5 minute plant time and 40 hour work week). That's sort of like if you took an internship for 4 months and all you did was ONE THING the whole time: plant grape vines. Can you imagine the back pain?! The montony?! Just goes to show how much you have to love something to breathe life into it and get it off the ground.

Dave's dedication to the place was apparent in his attention to just about everything going on at the winery. It seemed every time I looked up he'd scurried off to attend to something new, such as adjusting the rock art they have on display in the shape of the Burrell School Vineyards schoolhouse; or tinkering with one of the vintage tractors they use in the vineyards; or adjusting the doorstopper on the patio of the tasting room (great Hawaiian shirt, Dave!). As an entrepreneur myself, I can absolutely relate to this desire to make everything "just so."

It's their baby, after all. Anne echoed my sentiments at one point, admitting that "it's hard to let go." She was referring to their increasing need to delegate responsibility for various operations at the place since they're growing so quickly. Clearly, HR and management issues aren't just isolated to the "traditional" businesses: even winemaker/growers have to cope with the blessings and curses of business growth.

All in all, the visit was really lovely, with a nice spread laid out for us by the Moultons and Laura Ness, the operation's Director of Marketing. Laura is incredibly knowledgeable about the Santa Cruz Mountains growing area, and she was a big help to my sister and me in planning our trip. She asked me to PLEASE tell everyone about the upcoming Passport weekend on November 18.

Passport = Wine Parties
Passport, a really big event in these parts, is a day when a ton of local wineries (including some that are ONLY open for Passport events) throw mini parties for tasters who weave their way through the mountains tasting at various spots. Local restaurants get in on the act as well, offering discounts and waiving corkage fees on Passport day, contributing to the general sense of festivity that - apparently - is felt in the area. I've never been to Passport but after this trip I can see why a lot of folks rally for it!

As for the wines we tasted at Burrell School, there were many and lots of them very good. Besides the Cabernet Franc, which is a total treat and the winery's specialty, my favorite wine was the Verandah Vineyard Pinot Noir, which is one of the few wines sourced from vineyards outside the Burrell School estate vines. The fruit hails from, quite obviously, the Verandah Vineyard, a spot that's located at about 800 feet in the southerly portion of the Santa Cruz Mountains growing area just about due inland from the town of Aptos. The Pinot was really lovely and boasted a deft balance between the structure I've come to love from mountain fruit and pretty oak.

Play time at the school house
After lunch we had the opportunity to "play" for a while at the vineyard, and that's exactly what we did. First, we cruised into the barrell room with BSV sales guru Anthony Kresge for some more tasting. Yum. Then we headed outside to walk in the vineyards and take a look at the late-harvest Chardonnay that was still hanging on the vine in early October. It's the first time BSV is doing a late-havest Chard, and the berries were super golden and concentrated-looking. We wish them luck with the stuff.

Next, we arrived at an out of commission tractor on the property (BSV still uses heritage Cletrac tractors; pruning and picking are done by hand) and decided to use the opportunity to ham it up for some pics (including the one at the beginning of this entry). We hope you enjoy! The day was just beautiful and the earlier pic of us chilling on the tractor perfectly captures the laid-back atmosphere at BSV.

We eventually circled back towards the school house and tasting room and said our good-byes. But, we couldn't leave without taking at least a quick try at punching down the caps on the just-picked berries sitting in bins on the way out to the parking lot. Here are some more snaps of us giving that activity a try (hint: it's serious manual labor - definitely consider sticking to your day job if you think this looks romantic and escapist - it's really not).

And...more tasting!
Sufficiently sated with enchiladas, prosciutto, freshly picked figs and lots of vino, we took our leave. But we weren't going home! At least not yet. We'd been roped into heading to at least one more winery by Anthony, who assured us that Christine Slatter, owner of Hunter Hill Vineyard & Winery not far away in Soquel, was like his "second mom" and would welcome us even though the place was imminently closing. Really?, we thought, but got on the wine tasting band wagon all the same. After all, it was a gorgeous Saturday in wine country. What would YOU do?

Turns out Anthony was right: Christine proved to be a total peach and allowed us to taste lots of her delicious wines and linger even though the sun was on its way down and her last customers had left. Not that I was surprised: the hospitality in the Santa Cruz region is really superb. Folks are down to earth and warm and - the best part, perhaps - they're more than happy to share their fanastic wines with curious visitors!

Speaking of which, Christine makes a DYNAMITE Syrah that I simply LOVED. Here's a picture of it - the 2003 Hunter Hill Syrah Arroyo Seco Mesa Del Sol Vineyards. WOW! Peppery and subtley gamey like a Syrah ought to be, this wine was simply fabulous. In fact, I was later photographed cradling a bottle of it like a baby. Odd? Absolutely. But, if you've ever had a wine that really struck an emotional chord, you might find yourself doing this too. That, or I'm officially a wine nut.

Following are some more pics at Hunter Hill, including a view of the inside of their tasting room and some shots of the grounds outside, including one of a curious gnome in a flower pot that struck me as "tres Santa Cruz." Also, some pics of apres-tasting activities on the beach in Santa Cruz and a fun dinner out with the locals (yes, we switched to margaritas - even a sommelier has to take a break sometimes!). We're already looking forward to our next visit. Thanks, Santa Cruz! :)

PS the fancy pics at the end are Anthony's! tx for that, Ant