Passing on the wine-making torch
Bill Greenough rejuvenated his winery when he was 30 years old; he’s employing another 30-year-old as winemaker
tool goes here In 1974, when Bill Greenough was just 30 years old, he bought a dilapidated vineyard in Saucelito Canyon, five miles east of Arroyo Grande.
It took Greenough two years to nurse back to life the three acres of zinfandel planted in the 1880s, and then another five years to plant an additional nine acres of new zinfandel, cabernet and Bordeux varieties.
For the last two decades, Greenough has been making wine in small lots under the brand Saucelito Canyon.
The 18th annual SLO Harvest Celebration Weekend is set for Nov. 7-9. Wineries and tasting rooms in San Luis Obispo will be opening their doors with special tastings, winery tours, winemaker dinners and more. Many of the events are free. Visit www.slowine.com for a complete list of events and participating wineries.
Saucelito Canyon winemaking is now in the hands of another talented 30-year old, Amy Freeman.
Pictured on the advertisements and fliers for next weekend’s SLO Vintners Harvest Celebration, Freeman stands tall and strong, with large leather work gloves on both hands, holding a shovel that looks like it weighs about 50 pounds.
In fact, Freeman is only 5 feet 1 inch tall, and the petite blonde says people’s first impression of her is: “Gee, I thought you were going to be taller.”
But the fact that Greenough, now 64, has placed his faith in his new young winemaker is a statement of his confidence in her, and his acknowledgement that it’s time for him to step back.
“I could see my limits,” Greenough explains. “When she started, I just said ‘You do it and do it the way you want,’ and she does do things differently than I do. But the proof is in the bottle,” he adds, “the wines are just excellent, and she’s making wines now I never would have made.”
The Saucelito Canyon property is unique.
Located in a remote canyon past Lopez Lake, northeast of Arroyo Grande, the vineyard was originally planted by Englishman Henry Ditmas in the 1880s.
Wine was made from the imported zinfandel and Muscat vines at a winery on the property until just before Prohibition, when the winery was closed down, and the vineyard was eventually abandoned.
When Greenough purchased the ranch, pictures on the tasting room walls show what was left of mangled vines surrounded by three decade’s growth of weeds.
But something struck him about the place.
“As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the right spot,” he says. “It just has a feeling about it; it’s kind of magical.”
Though he had no experience or education in viticulture, Greenough plowed in — literally—ripping out weeds, and saving what vines he could.
Those original vines are still producing, and this year Freeman is making a first of its kind wine from just those grapes, calling it “1880 Old Vine Zinfandel.”
The Saucelito vineyard now has 12 acres of planted vines, and Greenough also purchases fruit from Santa Margarita Vineyards, Pozo Valley Vineyards, French Camp, Laetitia and Wolff Vineyards.
Greenough’s production has varied from 1,000 to 2,500 cases a year, but now with Freeman in charge of production, and the number of new wines she has brought on board, they plan to make 5,000 cases this year.
Freeman brings with her formal education in viticulture and enology, as well as three years experience at Santa Maria’s Byron Winery.
“I got pretty spoiled at that beautiful facility,” she says.
Now in a cramped barn, with no electricity, Freeman manages to make more than a dozen wines with the help of Tom Greenough, Bill’s son.
The younger Greenough also manages the vineyard, and together he and Freeman run the operation by themselves.
One of the priorities at the winery and vineyard is sustainability, and Saucelito Canyon is one of just 14 growers in the county involved in a certification program called “Sustainability in Practice,” a pilot program sponsored by the Central Coast Vineyard Team.
They have been part of the team’s sustainability programs since 1996.
In 2004 Greenough opened a tasting room on Biddle Ranch Road in Edna Valley.
He is now able to sell about 70 percent of his production out of the tasting room, with the balance of sales going to mostly local and California retailers and restaurants.
No longer is he going from shops to restaurants selling cases of wine out of the back of his trunk.
Greenough’s wife, Nancy, is also involved in the winery, managing the marketing and business side of the operation, and both she and her husband recently took some time off for a change.
“We’d been gone for a couple weeks, and gosh,” Bill Greenough said, “everything had been going fine without us!”