Vineyard

Welcome to a special Santa Cruz Mountains vineyard perched on a ridge top overlooking the Monterey Bay. On this site you will learn about the plans and progress of our emerging vineyard.

The first planting was done in late 1998 and the total 13 acres completed in 2005. See the Description section for details on the one-acre blocks of various clones and root stocks. The Pinot noir section describes the attributes of the four clones planted in this vineyard. See the History section for more detail on the work done each year. The original plan was to confine our efforts to the vineyard, growing premium Pinot Noir. However, several years of experience and the first few harvests highlighted the need for our own label. We needed to sell wine to pay for the vineyard. Federal and California wine sales licenses were obtained in 2006 and initial sales began in 2007, based on our 2004 and subsequent vintages. See the Wines section for more detail.

More information on the farming aspects is in the Installation, Viticulture and Equipment sections.

Mission

To grow premium Pinot noir grapes with exquisite attention to detail and quality.

Pinot Noir ready to harvest at Muns Vineyard.
Ed moving a 1/2 ton bin of Pinot Noir on harvest day, a bin on the front and on the back of the tractor.
It takes 45 buckets full to fill a 1/2 ton bin.
It is steep on this big hill, but the view over the mountains is spectacular.
It takes about 18 crew members to pick 8 tons/day., and it is tiring work.
We start picking at 4am when the morning is cool.
Dawn lightens the night sky.
The scene as dawn breaks.
These big beautiful clusters of Pinot Noir will not stay on the vine for much longer!
Harvesting the Syrah, and the view looking across the mountains to Ben Lomond.
These Syrah clusters are going, going, gone.
An autumn dawn.
Looking north to the next ridge with Mount Umunhum and Mount Thayer bordering San Jose and Los Gatos.
The vineyard in its autumn colors looking out towards Monterey in the distance on the other side of the Bay.
Approaching winter and the leaves are almost all gone from the vines. View of Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay in the distance.
Winter dormancy and the leaves are gone from the vines. View of Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay in the distance.
Winter view to the Monterey Peninsula across the bay.
Sky show during the winter storms.
At 2600' elevation sometimes we get snow. We usually get at least a flurry once a winter and sometimes a little more (as in 2012)...
... and sometimes a lot. This was in 2006.
Our snowy vineyard with Santa Cruz below (2011).
Pinot in the snow.

Overview

Our vineyard is located on a ridge at 2600′ in the Santa Cruz Mountains facing Monterey Bay. 13 acres of the 77-acre property are setup with drip irrigation and a vertical trellis system and protected by a deer fence. This infrastructure is left over from an initial installation back in the early 80’s that was abandoned before producing grapes. Four varieties were planted at that time: Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Previously, in the 70’s, the property was a Christmas tree farm, so young pine trees pop up everywhere, including in the vineyard! We have meticulously removed the native Santa Cruz Mountains brush and refurbished row by row as we planted new vines.

We have planted a premium selection of Pinot noir French clones that provide the fastidious winemaker the means with which to produce award-winning vineyard-designated wines. The green-growing or dormant bench grafts are supplied by Caldwell Nursery (now Sunridge Nurseries) which specializes in ENTAV-certified vines.

We belong to the American Society of Enology and Viticulture (ASEV) and the Viticulture Association of the Santa Cruz Mountains (VASCM). In addition, there is the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association (SCMWA, 831-479-9463), primarily for wineries in our AVA. See articles including Muns Vineyard in the May 2005 issues of Wine Enthusiast and Wines & Vines.

We welcome comments and input from others via the Feedback section.

History:

The vineyard had originally been planted back in the 1980s, before Ed bought the property. The vineyard was laid out then with the 10′ row spacing and vine spacing at 7′. Although 10′ between rows is wide by current thinking, Ed has been glad for the leeway it provides for the tractor, which slips occasionally on some of our steep hills. When we started and replanted this old vineyard we maintained the 7′ vine spacing on the first 2.5 acres we planted, but soon interplanted between the vines at a spacing of 3.5′, and continued that spacing throughout the vineyard.

The 2018 Harvest – An Exciting, Stellar Vintage

Ed moving a half-ton bin full of Pinot Noir.
The crew picking on the hill at dawn.
We start at 4am in the cool of the early morning.
Dawn, with Mount Thayer and Mount Umunhum in the background.
The bin is filling up with Pinot clusters.
Luscious, juicy Pinot Noir clusters!
Just after dawn; the coastal fog over the Bay and Monterey in the distance.
The view picking at the top of the Big Hill.
Proudly showing off the big beautiful clusters of Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir for Calera.
Misty morning dawn and this bin is filling up.
Another early morning start. Luis.
Morning dew glistens on the clusters during a misty night.
Morning dew on the clusters sparkles under the headlamps.
Early morning and the vineyard glows in its Autumn colors.
Picking for Calera.
Glorious Autumn golds. Ramon.
Martin picking in the golden light.
Big beautiful clusters on the last day picking Pinot.
Alma picking Syrah.
Picking Syrah with the view across the mountains to Bonny Doon.
The syrah in a bed of Autumn foliage.

The 2018 vintage is going to be fantastic! It is without doubt the best crop load we’ve ever had (since 2003), and the fruit quality and flavors are excellent. We picked 50 tons of Pinot Noir over seven days between Sept. 17 and Oct. 15; and picked 5.5 tons of Syrah on Oct. 18. This is a lot to ask of the vineyard, but the vineyard is healthy and conditions couldn’t have been more ideal.

We had an excellent set in the Spring. Warm, but not too hot weather in August ripened the fruit. And then, starting the first of September we had cool weather that prolonged hang time and developed flavors. As a result, we are seeing rich, complex flavors at lower sugar levels. This is the latest we have harvested other than in 2010. That year we had cold weather and it rained several times before we picked the Pinot at the end of October and the Syrah early in November. That was a difficult year. By comparison, 2018 has been just about perfect.

The 2018 promises to be exciting!