Thomas Fogarty Winery and Vineyards California WinesThomas Fogarty Winery and Vineyards Thomas Fogarty Winery & Vineyards
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In 1969, when he began teaching surgery at the Stanford University Medical Center, Fogarty was first introduced to the wine industry. He helped out a Stanford colleagues small winery with vineyard and cellar practices. Later on, he purchased land in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He established a cellar there and began making wine with grapes bought from nearby growers. He planted his first vines in 1978 and set up a commercial winery, Thomas Fogarty Winery and Vineyards, in 1981. The estate now consists of three hundred twenty-five acres. Fifteen thousand cases of wine are produced annually. Fogartys basis for winemaking also stems from his explanation that certain elements in the extracts from grape skin relax the blood vessels and lower the affinity for blood to clot. Of the wines produced in Fogartys vineyard, the 2004 SCM Lexington Meritage wine received "double gold" status in the San Francisco International Wine Competition in 2008, and the 2005 Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay was the gold medal winner and the "Best Chardonnay of Class" in the 2008 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
The Thomas Fogarty Winery is a perfect place to spend an afternoon wine-tasting, sightseeing, or hosting your wedding or special event. Our stunning mountaintop location, located between San Francisco and the Silicon Valley, offers stunning views along with award-winning wines that highlight the best of the Santa Cruz Mountains Appellation.
Since 1981, the Thomas Fogarty Winery has been making single vineyard Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays and Cabernets that have helped lead the revival of the SCM appellation.
So pay us a visit! Try our wines, enjoy our panoramic views and introduce yourself to Mortimer, our famous, persnickety, tasting room cat. If you can't make the trip, visit us vicariously through our website, learn about our wines, and order a bottle or two for your table.
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The Vineyards at Thomas Fogarty Winery Our vineyards are more than a source of grapes for our wines. They are places of beauty, serenity, and very hard work, for winemaking is a year-long process.
Our two properties are divided into micro-vineyards that are farmed and harvested as individual, stand-alone entities. This results in wines that are individualistic, complex and balanced. All of our sites feature a layer of low-vigor loam on top of sandstone, shale and marine deposits. The unusual soils coupled with our cool climate promote low yields (1-3 tons per acre on average), great intensity, firm structure and a distinct impression of minerality in our wines.
With few exceptions, individual lots of grapes are fermented separately using native yeasts. All of our wines, except Gewürztraminer, are now aged exclusively in French oak barrels and bottled unfiltered.
FOGARTY ESTATE VINEYARDS Our estate vineyard in Woodside totals 320-acres of rugged terrain high atop the Santa Cruz Mountains. The estate includes eight micro- vineyards covering 25 acres of ridge top and steep southeast- and east-facing hillsides on the property. The micro-vineyards include: Windy Hill (2.5 acres of Pinot Noir, 1970 ft. above sea level), Razorback (2 acres of Pinot Noir, 1400 ft.), Damiana (3.5 acres of Chardonnay, Damiana, 1890 ft.), Portola Springs (2 acres of Chardonnay, 1920 ft.), Albutom (0.25 acres of Chardonnay, 1930 ft.), Langley Hill (5.25 acres of Chardonnay, 1925 ft.) and Rapley Trail (5.5 acres of Pinot Noir, 1650 ft.).
(Click here to learn more about each vineyard.)
GIST RANCH ESTATE Our southern property, also known as Gist Ranch, is a 100-acre parcel located 17 miles south of the winery and 14.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The property features 14 acres of grapes including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. Gist Ranch sits atop a ridge at 2300 feet above sea level and experiences a relatively cool climate influenced by the Pacific Ocean to the west. Planted in 1999, this vineyard is responsible for a number of Fogarty's single-site bottlings.
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Wine Tasting Etiquette: It's quite alright to spit your wine into the bucket on the counter. Feel free to sip some water or eat a cracker between tastings to cleanse your palate. You don't need to rinse your glass between every tasting. Cheers!
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