about
a tale of two valleys. |
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A cave in France, a cathedral in California. First, we talked about building a winery and creating savory and elegant wines. We dreamed and debated about the varietals we'd produce, made lists of winery names. Talked about architecture and the tasting experience and visualized that the winery would be tucked into the earth... in a cave. Then, in a visit to the South of France in 2007, all our ideas came together in one memorable afternoon. There, in the Lot River Valley, we stepped into one of the region's celebrated pre-historic caves...called "Pech Merle." Why is it called “Pech Merle”? In the lower third of France is a southern Latin culture called Langue d’oc or Occitan. Pech is the French writing of the Occitan word pueg which means “a hill or under a hill.” Cool, simple, unique and exotic. Voila! We had a name to go with the dream. Exhilarated, we returned to search in earnest for a special place to build the "under-the-hill" winery we would call Pech Merle. With extraordinary luck, we found our ideal site in a place that mirrors the climate, topography and terroir of the Lot River Valley...in Northern Sonoma County's Dry Creek Valley. At the crest of our property stands a superb setting for a tasting room, with a vista of vineyards stretching across the entire valley to the rising forests beyond. The mornings are fog-wrapped, the afternoons sun-filled, the twilight magical. Then there's the cathedral...an extraordinary Heritage oak dwarfs all other oaks in the valley...and perhaps in all of California. From a height of 77 feet, its massive branches reach skyward, then out, then cascade to the ground, making it a tree you not only walk under… but inside. Arriving at the trunk—some 32 feet in circumference!--you are in deep shade. The temperature drops 12 degrees. Yet through the woven wall of branches, you still see the surrounding vineyards, hillsides and blue Sonoma sky. If ever there was the perfect place to drink in wine country and savor a glass of wine, Eureka! You’ve found it. Beyond the monumental Pech Merle Oak, an open meadow runs to a swale and the site we've chosen to excavate for our "under the hill" winery. We've reclaimed two small buildings on the property, and turned one into our temporary "operations center." We are designing walking paths throughout the 15-acre property. Once the winery is up and running, visitors will meander from tasting room to tasting tree, garden to garden, orchard to underground winery tour...and beyond. We've begun to prep the site for the excavation of the winery cave, with a target to begin construction in Spring 2015. Our wines have come first, before the winery. Working at a nearby facility with much-heralded winemaker John Pepe, we’ve continued to harvest, press, ferment, age, bottle and release elegant wines each season. The critics have responded--with awards and medals at competitions throughout California for our Sauvignon Blanc, Rose, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Zinfandels and Cabernet Sauvignon. We invite you to share our dream-in-progress, and look forward to the day when you can join us in our tasting room overlooking Dry Creek Valley, beneath the bowers of the Pech Merle Oak, and "under the hill" in our winery cave. Cheers! Bruce & Cheryl Lawton |