High on a Mendocino

From advertising, to graphic arts, to real estate, to publishing, Dick Sherwin hopscotched his way through several highly successful careers before landing, irrevocably, in the wine industry. With uncanny prescience, he bought vineyard land in the Russian River area of Sonoma County in 1971, and by 1977 had founded Lytton Springs Winery.

With grapes from his own Valley Vista vineyard, Sherwin, his partner, the late Walt Walters, and winemaker Darrell Holbrook, were soon building a strong reputation for spectacular Zinfandel wine at the height of the California Wine Renaissance.

"It's a kind of neat story, how we happened to be here in Mendocino County," Dick Sherwin remarks, a smile wreathing his pixieish visage. "I had always had a finger in real estate, and one Sunday morning in 1987, as I was enjoying my second cup of coffee, I picked up the ad section of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. What caught my eye was a listing that said something like, '287 acres with vineyard for sale in Mendocino County for $295,000.' Looking back, from the historical perspective, there weren't a lot of people in 1987 who were interested in Mendocino County for growing grapes, but in the ten years since I had started Lytton Springs, I had watched the value of vineyard land in Sonoma County increasing astronomically. Knowing that, and even given that Mendocino was pretty much an unknown quantity, I thought there must be a zero missing in that price."

Sherwin called the number listed and was soon talking to Lee Parker, a Santa Rosa mortgage broker. "What's the story?" he asked. "He told me that the land was part of the holdings of Balverne Winery (Healdsburg), which were all being sold off." Lee's uncle held the mortgage on the land, which consisted of two small parcels and two larger pieces, and he was eager to get rid of it. Lee had an option to buy, but was interested only in a naturally wild section at the north end to use as a rustic retreat. His suggestion was that he would take the northern 100 acres, and, for $265,000, Dick could buy the 200-acres on the southern end, where there were 60 acres of vineyard.

Dick and his wife, Dorinda, drove up to look at the property on Eastside Road, northeast of Hopland. The vineyard, with 40 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and 20 acres of Merlot, had been totally neglected and needed a lot of attention, but the forested hillsides were magnificent. Dick recognized that even at the original price, it was a good buy, so struck a deal to pay the entire $295,000, with Lee retaining the portion he wanted for recreational purposes.

The first task was to upgrade the vineyard. "We had no record of what rootstock had been used in the original vineyard, although we had been told it was St. George," mentions Dick. "We had no idea what clones had been used, and we figured out the irrigation system by trial and error. Water to the vines was supplied by a mist system, suspended over the vineyard. The theory was that when there was a frost warning, the mists could be turned on to protect the vines, and in the summer, the system would provide water during dry spells. The problem was," recalls Dick, "that the water evaporated before it ever hit the ground, so the first thing we did was lower the tubing and change it to drip irrigation. We pruned the vines way back, and in 1987 harvested 40 tons of Cabernet which we released under our Lytton Springs label. In 1988 we only got 25 tons, and also used that fruit for a Lytton Springs release." At that point Dick admits he was beginning to think he might have made a mistake. "But we stuck with it and di d every thing the Mendocino County farm advisor suggested."

By 1988, the wine industry was beginning to realize the value of Mendocino, and Dick was looking for more land. "I found a 117-acre piece in the hills above Feliz Creek Road," He comments. "It was gorgeous, with lots of trees and wild animals. We thought we might like to build a home there, but decided we really like the ranch on Eastside Road, so we suggested that Lee look at it as an ideal spot for his retreat. He fell in love with it, and we traded straight across, the mountainside for the north portion of the original property. It was a good business deal, because on the piece we acquired there was a broad, level meadow that was a perfect site for a winery." The Mendocino Hill winery, however, was still down the road apiece, although Cabernet was crushed and bottled under the Mendocino Hill label beginning in 1989.

In 1991, Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards made Dick one of those offers that was impossible to refuse. Dick accepted the offer, and sold Lytton. Springs Winery and Valley Vista Vineyard to Draper. Then Dick moved on to his next project: the Old Town Winery in Railroad Square, Santa Rosa. "We purchased a stemmer-crusher, a press, and four 3,700-gallon jacketed tanks from Santa Rosa Stainless Steel, and were moving ahead swiftly. Our building was so attractive, and our location so great, that people were knocking on the door begging to use it for events. But there were a lot of points we had not considered--like the lack of adequate parking, so even though we had a nice home for our grapes, we decided it was best to sell."

Moving to Mendocino Hill had always been part of Dick and Dorinda's plan, but with two daughters, Kate and Meg, still in school in Healdsburg, that plan was put on hold. They spent as much time as possible on the ranch, working on the vineyard changes and planting new acreage. The greatest percentage of the crop was sold to neighboring wineries, with just enough held back to bottle about 1,000 cases from each vintage. By 1996, when Dick and Dorinda sold their home in Healdsburg, Dick had added five acres of Syrah, five acres of Sangiovese, and ten more acres of Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1997 he put in six acres of Zinfandel, as an experiment, to see how it would do.

Putting first things first, construction was started on the winery and shop buildings. The structures were basically metal buildings with rustic redwood siding, but the first summer showed the Sherwins, dramatically, that heavier insulation was desperately needed. "If it was 110[degrees] outside," Dick admits, ruefully, "it was 110[degrees] inside the building." By the time he had made that discovery, Dick had met Bob Gustafson and Eric Zimmerman, a pair of talented designers and builders who lived in Potter Valley. "Those guys are incredible," he says. "They are both practical and creative. After putting in R-30 insulation, the interior of the building was not very good-looking, but they went out and found a source for 6" pine tongue-and-groove to cover the interior walls, and it is absolutely beautiful."

To the four 3,700-gallon tanks, moved up from Santa Rosa, four 1,200-gallon jacketed tanks were added along with three storage tanks. The first crush in the new winery was the vintage of 1998. Most of the 1,000 case production was Cabernet Sauvignon, with a small experimental lot of Sangiovese. Dick and Darrell Holbrook share winemaking duties, and winemaking consultant John Quinones joined the team in 1999. "John is incredibly meticulous," comments Dick, "and he is making sure we are doing everything right. He has helped us set up a program for purchasing oak barrels, and the first 200 barrels are now in place, a mix of four-fifths American and one-fifth French oak. "As we can," Dick explains, "we will add more barrels from French coopers, and increase the influence of new oak on the wines. There is no way we are going to skimp on wood. There is so much wine in the marketplace now, that, to be recognized, you have to make not just good wine, but the very best possible--something that clearly stands our from the rest."

In 1999, production took a gigantic leap to 3,000 cases, still predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, but with a little more Sangiovese, some Merlot, and the first Mendocino Hill Syrah. "We even bought five tons of Chardonnay from a neighbor, and are experimenting with a barrel-fermented, malolactic, lees-influenced wine," Dick mentions.

There is one major difference between 1977, when Dick started Lytton Springs, and 2000. "In 1977, people were beating a path to the door," Dick recalls. "Now, when I go on a sales trip it's, 'Who are you?' In order to be a viable winery today, you have to learn a lot of new skills, and make good use of all the technological and research advances."

He shrugs and gives a rueful grin. "I hadn't planned on being back on the road, but it has helped us build a nice sales base, and create our own image."

One bit of good fortune came about quite by accident. In June 1998, Bill Dendor, an independent wine representative on the East Coast, tasted the wine and asked if he could handle sales in his area. In September he placed his first order, and by the end of the year he had re-ordered and cleared out the entire inventory.

After the winery was up and running, Bob and Eric's next project was either to start construction on the hospitality building or to build the Sherwins' home. Dick says he convinced Dorinda that the center took priority from the practical standpoint that it would provide some income. Ground was broken in September, 1999, and it was ready for holiday events by December. "We have always wanted a post and beam home," Dorinda says, "so Bob and Eric designed a great room with exposed beams and a high ceiling." The building, which is often mistaken for a residence, is perched under a grove of valley oaks on the edge of the meadow, over-looking the entire valley, with Duncan's Peak silhouetted in the south. A broad deck, under an overhang, wraps around three sides, and a small, private banquet room sits on the fourth. There is a full commercial kitchen, with generous counter space, and the room provides comfortable seating for 40 guests, or 150 at a stand-up reception. In the shop, which lies between the center and t he winery, there is another commercial sink and refrigerator for caterers to use preparing food for outdoor events.

On New Year's Eve, the Sherwins hosted a party for members of the informal "Hopland Cabernet Sauvignon Growers."

"Five years ago," Dick says, "we got a call from Garry Dodd, a grower who wanted to promote Hopland as the ultimate area for producing outstanding Cabernet. It was a really nice way to be welcomed, and meeting all those other growers helped us enormously in getting our vineyards established and making the first wines. Our meetings were informal, but valuable. Every year, we would tour each other's vineyards, and Dorinda and I always picked up some ideas for improving what we were doing."

In the spring of 1999, phylloxera caught up with Mendocino Hill. Fourteen acres of vines were pulled out, and replanted with Cabernet Sauvignon on 11 OR rootstock. The original 6' by 8' spacing was maintained, as was the two-wire, cordon-trained trellising, to which Dick added a pair of catch wires above the trellis. Ground cover is allowed to grow through the winter months to help stabilize the soil, and canes from pruning are burned, rather than disked under, to avoid erosion.

Declining vigor has been noticed in other portions of the vineyard, and Dick estimates he may have to replant an additional 25 acres. When all the planting and replanting has been completed, he expects to have 100 acres of vineyard. One small block is on what Dick refers to as "aggresively steep" land. "Our vineyard manager, Socorro Casillias, begged me to try it," he mentions, as he points out the plot and considers how he is going to tend the vines, since there is certainly no way to get his equipment onto a slope that steep. Labor for harvesting, which is done by hand throughout the vineyard, should not be a problem since many of the workers live full-time on the property, and, Dick adds,. "Socorro has a lot of relatives who show up when we need them.

"We operate with a very small staff," Dick points out, "and I don't want to have a lot of employees. My intent is not to loin the hordes of fighting varietals, but to grow to about 5,000 cases in the premium range. The nicest thing is that we can take our time to grow, and have fun along the way establishing a red wine winery in Hopland. I'm extremely excited about elevating Mendocino County's reputation for red wine. I'm excited about Syrah. I think it is going to become one of our flagship wines; the fruit is so intense and full of flavor.

"Sangiovese is going to be a hard sell, but I think we are going to make very impressive Sangiovese, and I'd like to think we could build a good reputation for our Sangiovese. My first impression of the Zinfandel is that it isn't even going to be close to what we had at Lytton Springs. I would like to be able to make a killer Zin here, but it may not be a direction we can go. The important thing now is to build a following for Mendocino Hill wines. It's only a guess, but I think we are going to surprise a lot of people. I am enthusiastic about the response we are already seeing. We have only entered one competition--the 1999 Mendocino County Fair, and our Cabernet took a silver, and there were no golds."

Though it is hard to see how Dick and Dorinda could have time for any activities outside the winery, they are partners in Generators Unlimited, a San Francisco-based company which rents "movie-quiet" generators to companies where ambient sound can be a problem. The company was started three years ago by Randall Venerable, a wine enthusiast they met at a tasting at Lawry's Restaurant in Los Angeles.

In his "spare" time, Dick searches for panoramic photographs with some historical significance or glimpse into the lives and industries of the past century. Also, with his graphic arts talent, he maintains an excellent Web site, mendocinohill.com, and designs and prints his own labels. Other than that, things are pretty quiet and routine at Mendocino Hill.

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