This adventure in winemaking began in 1999. We planted a small vineyard in Chardonnay, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Malvasia Bianca on the Central Coast of California. Shortly after we planted, a neighbor planted a 30 acre vineyard, mostly in Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. As we became more involved with our own winemaking, we tended to spend more time with the neighbor as his vineyard grew, and we began to share information, problems, and at least most of the time solutions. At no time were we contemplating making wine or oil commercially. This was simply a hobby!This part of the California is known for Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay. A little farther north and inland Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon were grown, and to the south Viognier, Roussanne and even more Pinot Noir. Since 1999, the same area has increased production until it is now home to some incredibly large vineyards.
Wanting to learn more about the art and science of winemaking, we volunteered to work, gratis, at a nearby winery. We did that for two seasons, and made our own wines as well. The wines kept improving, and we kept learning.
In 2004, we were asked to become the winemakers for our neighbor and agreed to do so, and seemingly overnight our home winemaking hobby was a pretty full time job. This kept us busy as we made 4200 cases of wine that year.
In 2006 we were asked to help design a new winery, where wines would be made for a number of people as well for as ourselves. We accepted. During that year we not only made wines for others, but established De Angelis Wines. De Angelis Wines is a small production label, where each wine is literally crafted by hand. The total production of our 2006 wines is 355 cases. Production in 2007 was 535 cases of our wines. We also managed to make 10,129 cases for other folks at the winery! Not too shabby.
This story is not terribly dissimilar to others who have gone from home to professional wine makers. We did this fairly quickly. One reason is that one of us has a doctorate in chemistry, so that part was easy. The other reason is that we are probably - when one combines our ages, either the oldest, or one of the oldest pair of winemakers on the planet - 136 years young. This experience was very important as we make wine, manage our vineyard, and manage the winery in general. Additionally, we still do quite a bit of the work ourselves, and often outperform many of our winemaking staff. This is often to the chagrin of our young, impressionable, and terrific staff.
The table below lists our wines, and provides links to each varietal' s description, production total and price.
Varietal Link Pinot Grigio Go! Roussanne Go! Sauvignon Blanc Go! Pinot Noir Go! Syrah Go! In 2007, we added Viognier to our offerings. That is now available, and can be found on the White Wine Page of this web site.
We hope you will explore our site, and after that will contact us about purchasing some of our wine.
Last updated on:01/28/09 07:25:49 PM