WindyOaksEstate.com
Title
Windy Oaks Estate Vineyards and Winery - Santa Cruz Mountains
Description
Although the history of the Pinot Noir grape in the Burgundy region of France dates back to the 4th century AD, our history of interest in wine and winemaking goes back about 25 years, when we first lived in Chicago, but took numerous business and pleasure trips to Europe, and began learning about winemaking in France.
Our attraction to the world of wine continued when we lived overseas, first Australia for five years, where we came to love Australian wines, particularly the small boutique wineries near where we lived in Melbourne; then England for two years, which enabled us to make frequent trips to the vineyards of France, Italy and Spain.
In the summer of 1994, we returned home to the central coast of California; in the following year, land adjacent to our property in Corralitos became available, and we began to think of growing grapes. We researched what grapes were most suitable to our microclimate in the Santa Cruz Mountains appellation, and found that it was uniquely suited for Pinot Noir grapes. (Wine Spectator recently identified the Santa Cruz Mountain appellation as the most underrated wine appellation in the world.)
