There’s a new family of vintners in the Central Coast wine community, and they’re setting up their operation on a venerable tract of land in San Luis Obispo County. The Conway family of Santa Barbara, who purchased Rancho Arroyo Grande last June, stands poised to launch a fresh portfolio of luxury and ultra-premium wines on a chunk of what was once part of a vast land grant.
Made up of 3,500 acres of diverse soils and elevations, Rancho Arroyo Grande sprawls a few miles east of Lopez Lake, at the upper end of the serpentine Arroyo Grande Valley. It comprises the remaining core of a 44,000-acre land grant issued by Spanish royalty in 1842, a parcel from which the city of Arroyo Grande took its name.
During the 18th and early 19th centuries, Rancho Arroyo Grande served as a support facility for Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, as well as a way station for road-weary travelers. In 1883, a daring Bostonian planted 30 acres of wine grapes, mostly Zinfandel, on the property and established St. Remy Ranch, where some of the region’s earliest wine was made.
Carrying on that viticultural tradition, the Conway family has taken on 230 acres of grapevines planted about a decade ago, and broken ground on a new production facility and tasting room complex they’re calling Galatea Winery. As part of their branding effort and strategy for introducing their wines to the larger world, the Conways appointed a new director of marketing, Jason O. Edwards, who recently helped cultivate national sales at Eberle Winery.
“The brand will remain Rancho Arroyo Grande,” Edwards explained, “but it will be produced by Conway Vineyards. We’ll be making Chardonnay, Rhones, and Zinfandel, which is our heritage grape.
“Our first release will be out soon,” he continued. “One-thousand cases of 2005 Rhone—a blend of Syrah and Mourvedre—and our 2007 Zinfandel, which is dry farmed. In the new year, we’ll release our 2007 Mourvedre, which is one of my favorites as a stand-alone wine.”
For the 2008 vintage, Edwards estimated the winery will make a mammoth leap to about 35,000 cases per year. In addition to Zinfandel, Syrah, and Mourvedre, the line-up will include Grenache, Counoise, Chardonnay, and Viognier, the lion’s share of which will come from the estate’s own vines.
Rancho Arroyo Grande boasts three distinctly different vineyards that take advantage of the varied soils and terrains of the property. The sandy, dry-farmed Portrero Vineyard yields less than one ton per acre of inky, concentrated Zinfandel, while the sandy loam of Zeferino Vineyard (named for the recipient of the original land grant) produces red fruit with lively notes of black pepper.
Coquina Vineyard, named for the geological layer of fossilized seabeds that underlies its soil, lends minerality to white varietals, while imbuing the reds with dark, fruity flavors and white pepper spice.
“This is a unique area,” Edwards admitted. “It could be its own appellation. These wines have an unusual style and character, and a lot of it has to do with the fossilized soils.
“We’ve been retraining the vineyards to make sure we grow the best quality fruit we can,” he added, “because we plan to use it all for our own label.”
The Conways have hired two winemakers to craft their diverse program of wines. Andrew Adams, who spent eight years at Alban Vineyard, brings to the table extensive experience with Rhone varietals, while Jonathan Me;dard, formerly with Newton Vineyard in the Napa Valley, “has a big Chard background.”
The wines will be available for purchase online in November, but tasting them on the ranch will have to wait until the new winery complex is completed in the next year or so.
“We’ll not only have the production facility and tasting room,” Edwards said, “but also botanical gardens that include California natives and endangered species. It’s really about maintaining the natural environment and preserving the land.
“Everyone’s going to be very impressed and excited when they come to visit,” he continued. “It’ll truly be a destination, both national and international.”
Many years ago, Christopher J. Conway, patriarch of the family, founded Mentor Corporation, a breast implant and medical device company based in Santa Barbara. Today, he and his children, Gillian, Gareth, and Thomas, honor a centuries’ old tradition by making rare and special wines at Rancho Arroyo Grande.
“What’s being created out here is truly amazing,” Edwards said. “It’s a new family, a new brand label, and it will be something new and exciting for the whole industry.”
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For more information about Conway Vineyards and Rancho Arroyo Grande, log on to www.ranchoarroyograndewines.com.
K. Reka Badger seeks out the new and exciting. E-mail comments or ideas to rekabadger@hotmail.com.
This article appears in Oct 9-16, 2008.