This is a producer who’s been at it for over 40 years: working exceptionally good terroir, using exclusively old school methods. And they release wines late, when they're ready to drink.

Thomas Fogarty was a... Read More

This is a producer who’s been at it for over 40 years: working exceptionally good terroir, using exclusively old school methods. And they release wines late, when they're ready to drink.

Thomas Fogarty was a surgeon when he fell in love with Burgundy in the 1970s. He wanted to make wines—both red and white—that evoked the same magic in California. He made the excellent choice of Santa Cruz. Never succumbing to the temptation of high scores in glossy publications, he stuck to methods consistent with his Burgundian ideals.

Today, his son, Thomas Jr., and Nathan Kandler continue the tradition, making wines almost exactly like they do in Burgundy these days: natural fermentations, a percentage of whole cluster fermentation, and aging in (mostly old) barrels.

One of the biggest differences between California and Burgundy, of course, is heat. California is a warm place. So how do you possibly get that magical Burgundian tension, that feeling that comes (in part, at least) precisely because it is only just possible to ripen grapes there?

The answer is: seek high ground and face your vineyards north if necessary. Fogarty’s winery is located 2000 feet above sea level, and the grapes need a long season of sunshine to ripen.

If the wines of David Hirsch epitomize the Burgundian potential of Californian wine north of San Francisco on the Sonoma Coast, Fogarty’s wines do the same for Santa Cruz.