Estancia Estates (Part 1) – With the Director of Winemaking

Our Central Coast Vineyard Tour, hosted by Benson Marketing and Constellation Group, started in the vineyards of Estancia with Director of Winemaking, Scott Kelley.  We spent a lot of time with Scott, as well as other members of the Estancia team and learned a lot about their theories on winemaking and exactly how they go about producing 850,000 cases of wine a year.  One of the most impressive things about Estancia was the fact that even with such high case production, the winemaking process is very hands-on.  Scott and his group are involved in every step along the way, tasting, smelling, and monitoring each wine as it develops from fruit on the vine to a bottle on your table.

http://www.estanciaestates.com

From the hills behind their facility, you can see the just a few hundred of their acres, planted carefully with rows of trees as windbreaks between the vines.  Cool winds rush through this valley every afternoon and the windbreaks protect the grapes from the elements.

Vineyards with Windbreaks at Estancia

We interviewed Scott Kelley at the beautiful Pinnacles Park, just outside their facility in Soledad, CA.  We got the scoop on his approach to making the wines, as well as his style.  He’s got a very creative, yet precise formula for producing a wide variety of wines, sure to please just about any palate and every pocketbook!

Here we are tasting the Estancia 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon from their Paso Robles Vineyard: