While I gave this story to Bruce to cover, I wanted to see the rebirth of this past prize for myself. I marvel to think if folks hadn’t fought to keep the wine country here safe, if the federal agents were a bit better wielding axes, if the church hadn’t provided refuge for the sacramental wines, this area could have been a big box store selling us lead covered toys from abroad. Instead, it offers us the tasting of wines made here in the good old U.S.A. As I approach the corner of Isabel and Vineyard, their it sits. I pull in the parking lot after nagging my wife to go early.

 

Bulldozers and the last of construction materials are just being cleaned up. No problem, I think as I look a the completed winery. It seems like a Christmas present sitting in the wrapping paper.

 

I tear through the parking lot, run to the door and it’s locked.

 

I pound on it and it swings open. With that, a new winery springs to life. It is empty of people, but ready to go. I snap a few pictures and make a beeline for the bar. I discover there was a private tasting the night before.

 

No matter, I order the first wine of the public opening. 

 

It is a Chardonnay from Livermore.  I felt it only appropriate. I swirl it around and inhale. “Good Luck old girl, make us proud” I whisper and I drink. 

 

The spirits of times gone by whirl around this structure. I am so happy to play a tiny part in the growth of the industry here. I think how close this valley came to suburbian oblivion and I am truly thankful the children of it’s pioneers kept their wits and fought for the proud history to continue while other towns relented. With the opening of this winery, I predict the focus will finally shift from the Tesla strip and draw more folks to the southern part of the valley. Sitting on hwy 84, many San Jose folks will stop here first and perhaps then look at Thomas Coyne, Fenestra, Tenuda and of course Mitchell Katz.

I meet Rose Ramos-Benzel at a small table selling wine infused chocolates.

 

They are wonderful. Her website is http://www.lestasidolce.com/ They are only available here and a few other places in Monterey. Yet another reason to visit the new Ruby Hill Winery. www.rubyhillwinery.net For info regarding the Casa Real event center go to http://www.casarealevents.com/index.php

As I prepare to go, A huge crowd enters, it is officially crowded. I wave to the workers and wish them luck.

Andrew Glazier

Opening day, Ruby Hill winery, 9 Feb 2008,  by Bruce Shore

The venerable but long dormant label of Ruby Hill Winery came back to
life on Saturday 9 February, with a crowded open house at the grand
new tasting room  on Vineyard Avenue between Livermore and
Pleasanton. Their vineyards stretch to the south of that road, into
the development homes that bear the name of Ruby Hill, and which
merge into the hills that delimit the Livermore Valley to the south.

The name Ruby Hill Winery dates back to 1887, and a winery of that
name persisted until the 1970s. Their landmark brick building was a
familiar sight along Vineyard Road — occupied by various other
wineries in turn — until arsonists burned it down in 1989. The site
was purchased, along with nearby land, by developer Mike Callahan,
under the Pleasanton-imposed restriction that the building be
reconstructed. The individual bricks were used to recreate, at a
nearby site, a replica of the original building, but with more modern
concrete core. The original bricks now provide a facade for that
building (housing the Mitchell Katz Winery, another venture of
Callahan) as well as providing a handsome fireplace in the present
Ruby Hill tasting room.

The approach to the parking lot is through a decorative arch similar
to the arch found at the Concannon Winery.

 

To enter the tasting room,
through the covered walkway, one steps on or over a replica, etched
into the cement,  of the Ruby Hill logo that has been resurrected on
the labels of the present winery.

The crowded tasting room at Ruby Hill on opening day. The gent in
white baseball cap is the owner, Mike Callaghan

The newly opened tasting room, attractively faced in stone with a red
tile roof, easily houses a crowd of perhaps a hundred, as were
present on opening day.

 

Adjacent to this building is the similarly
styled building that will become the Casa Real event center: a venue
where some thousand guests can enjoy a wedding or other catered
event. Both the tasting center and the event center, along with the
nearby Palm Center and Mitchell Katz Winery, are properties of Mike
Callaghan and his partners.

Mike Callaghan, an owner, beams with pleasure at the crowd. Your
reporter stands next to him.

Opening day was festive; friends of the owners, or residents of
nearby Ruby Hill estate, or just friends of friends were enjoying the
sunny afternoon, greeting one another with hugs or handshakes,
welcoming one another and congratulating those who were associated in
some way with the business.

Although this is another example of a small boutique winery — they
expect to be bottling only 5000 cases at first, of which some 2000
will probably be consumed at the event center — the long bar of the
tasting room was staffed by some 8 servers  and the winemaker  during
my visit.

Winemaker Chris Graves, behind the counter with one of his bottles.

Chris Graves is the winemaker. He grew up in Somerset CA, in the
foothills of the Sierras, where his father gave him an appreciation
for wine, most notably the Zinfandel for which that region is known.
Chris early displayed an interest in science, art and the outdoors:
his father pointed out that the perfect occupation for him would be
winemaking.  And so he followed the maxim (conveyed to me by Mike
Callahan) “If you choose to do what you like, you will never work a
day in your life”. He trained at UC Davis, and went into winemaking
as a professional. Chris has moved to Ruby Hill from Ivan Thomas,
where he was winemaker for several years. The present position gives
him the opportunity to exercise his creative talents in specialty
wines. Although he does solicit opinions on his blends, at casual
evenings with the owners and his wife, the selection of blends is his
own judgement in the end.

Chris lives in a newly remodeled house adjacent to the winery; this
enables him to be present during those critical hours after the
harvest when the first stages of winemaking require attention every
few hours. I gather that tending the fermenting grapes is similar to
the nighttime feedings of a new baby, a succession of events that
require suitable attention of an expert.

The samplings on opening weekend consisted of two Chardonnays,  three
reds and a Zinfandel Port, ranging in price from $12 to $26. (A
sparkling white wine was being poured, but it was not a creation of
Ruby Hill and will not be one of their regular offerings.) The grapes
for their wines come largely from their own extensive vineyards
between Livermore and Pleasanton, but also from other Northern
California locations where climate and soil favor particular
varieties.

I particularly liked their Livermore Valley Chardonnay — notably
fermented entirely in oak barrels. Although their two Cabernet
Sauvignons are very nice (I liked their “Central Coast” brand, one
that blended Livermore and Paso Robles grapes), probably their
specialties are their Italian-style wines: a Sangiovese from
Alexander Valley was being tasted, and a Barbera, available only to
members of their wine club (those who agree to purchase 8 bottles
each year)   — perhaps a good reason for joining their wine club.
These reds are great for late afternoon sipping, or with spaghetti –
but then, almost any red wine goes well with good spaghetti. Their
wine club is known as the Gem Club,  reiterating the signature
expression “Gem of Wine” that was emblazoned on the original Ruby
Hill labels and which appears again on the present ones.

Interestingly the tasting room has, at one side, a delicatessen
counter where visitors can purchase an excellent cold meal to
accompany their wine; within a few weeks there will be chairs and
tables outdoors where these items can be consumed.

 

And for those
whose back requires a break from standing at the bar, there are some
comfortable chairs by the fireplace.

Alyssia Jones, shown here by offerings from the deli, will be in
charge of the event center.

Brides are already signing up for time in the adjacent event center,
though it will not open until April. I spoke with two couples who
plan nuptial parties there. I am told that Napa Valley wineries are
prohibited from combining a winery with an event center. Here in the
Livermore Valley that is obviously not a restraint, and Ruby Hill -
Casa Real is the newest venture into this business, one that will
make our local region very competitive with the better known tourist
destination to the north of the SF Bay. After all, we already have
the hills, and the wine; tasteries and event centers such as the one
at Ruby Hill will go far towards claiming those Napa and Sonoma
tourists for our local economy.

See Back Roads Wine next year at the “Naples Winter Wine Festival” Back Roads Wine is your Livermore Independent Wine Advocate!