MOUNT EDEN OLD - scmwine/Wineries GitHub Wiki

Mount Eden

Owners Jeffrey Patterson
Winemaker Jeffrey Patterson 1981 - present
Richard Graff
Peter Graff
Merry Edwards
Bill Anderson
Fred Peterson
Address 22020 Mt. Eden Road, Saratoga, CA 95070-9729
Phone (888) 865-9463
Web Site http://www.mounteden.com
Tasting Hours By appointment only, Mon-Fri (groups of 6 or fewer, 21+)
Email
First Vintage 1972 (previously Martin Ray, founded 1945)
Current production

History

Mount Eden Vineyards traces its roots to the legendary Paul Masson Mountain Winery legacy and was founded in its modern form by Martin "Rusty" Ray.

1945: Martin Ray founded the winery after selling the Paul Masson winery to Seagrams in 1942. With the proceeds, he purchased property on Mount Eden and planted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay using selections from the historic Paul Masson vineyards, later adding Cabernet Sauvignon. Ray built a winery at the top of the mountain, accessible only via a long, winding road behind locked gates.

Post-WWII Era: Ray began producing 100% varietal wines which he believed could rival the best of the Old World. His old selections of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay became among the most important genetic lineages in California viticulture.

1960s: Ray attempted to expand but was sued by his creditors. The investors eventually took over the entire estate. (One version of this story is documented in Ray's biography, Vineyards in the Sky.)

1972: The new owners renamed the property Mount Eden Vineyards and produced their debut vintage from Ray's 30-year-old vines. The vines were dry farmed and widely spaced, with most work having to be done by hand due to the steepness of the mountain slopes. In 1984 Jeffrey Patterson began replanting the old vines due to age and viral infection. Details are on the vineyard page:Mount Eden Estate Vineyard.

Wines

Mount Eden produces three estate wines - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as some non-estate designated offerings.

The Pinot Noir is made in an austere, Burgundian style, with higher acidity and tannins than many California pinots, and is intended to be cellared for a few years before opening. Yields from the estate vineyards are naturally low - typically from 1/2 to two tons per acre. The winery also purchases fruit from the Peter Martin Ray Vineyard. Fermentation is by natural yeasts and the wines are matured in new or 1 year old French oak barrels. As a result it ages very well and are reputed to be hard to pick out when tasted blind against their French counterparts.

The Mount Eden Estate Chardonnays are considered to be one of California’s longest-lived white wines. They too should be aged in bottle for at least two years from release and will continue to improve for many more. There are also two other Chardonnays, intended for immediate consumption. made with fruit from Edna Valley in the southern corner of San Luis Obispo County.

Mount Eden also makes two Cabernet Sauvignons. As well as the Estate Cabernet, which like the Pinot and Chardonnay is built for ageing, there is a Saratoga Cuvee that is intended for drinking on release and is good value at around $25.

Notes

All the Mount Eden estate wines are individually serial numbered, in yet another tribute to Rusty Ray.

In 2003 the winery installed a 20 kilowatt solar array next to one of the vineyards. The system is wired into the existing electric service and means that during the summer months the electricity meter runs backwards, feeding power back into the PG&E grid. As a result the winery's annual electricity bill dropped by around $7,000 to practically nil. The system is expected to pay for itself by 2010.

Significance

Mount Eden is widely recognized as a canonical quality benchmark in the Santa Cruz Mountains and California wine history broadly. The estate preserved old selections of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the Paul Masson/Martin Ray lineage that became foundational clonal material for California viticulture.

Related Entries

Sources