Twisted Oak Winery is a family-owned boutique

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

in Vallecito,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

specializing in

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are ...

made from

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry (botany), berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non-Climacteric (botany), climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of ...

varieties native to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

regions of

western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. The winery is located on a hilltop at 2280 ft (695 m)

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The ...

in the foothills of the

Sierra Nevada Mountains The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primaril ...

, and most of the grapes for the wines are sourced from nearby

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vine ...

s in

Calaveras County Calaveras County (), officially the County of Calaveras, is a county in both the Gold Country and High Sierra regions of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 45,292. The county seat is San Andreas. Angels ...

. The winery name and logo design are derived from a California

Blue Oak ''Quercus douglasii'', known as blue oak, is a species of oak endemic to (and found only in) California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is California's most drought-tolerant deciduous oak, and is a dominan ...

tree on the property.

History

The winery was founded by Jeff and Mary Stai, and opened in 2001. The Stais hired Scott Klann, a native of Murphys, who had over a decade of experience in the Calaveras County wine industry, as Twisted Oak's first

winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to det ...

."Twisted Oak Winery"
Winery Backgrounder. Retrieved Oct. 2, 2007. The original 10 acre (4 ha) vineyard on the 120 acre (48.5 ha) property was planted to

Tempranillo Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del Pais in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its ...

Grenache Grenache () or Garnacha () is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world.Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' p. 25, JP Bøger – JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. . It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry conditi ...

, and

Graciano Graciano is a Spanish red wine grape that is grown primarily in Rioja. The vine produces a low yield that are normally harvested in late October. The wine produced is characterized by its deep red color, strong aroma and ability to age ...

, grape varieties native to the Mediterranean regions of France, Spain and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

. The decision to plant Iberian grape varieties, uncommon in California, was in part due to a dinner that Stai and Klann attended at a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

restaurant in which they tried many

Spanish wine Spanish wine () includes red, white, and sparkling wines produced throughout the country. Located on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain has over 1.2 million hectares (2.9 million acres) planted in wine grapes, making it the most widely ...

s that impressed them. The winery's first vintage was 2002, when they produced 10 different wines, all made from purchased grapes. The wines were produced in a custom crush facility at the Olde Lockeford Winery in the town of

Lockeford, California Lockeford is an unincorporated community in San Joaquin County, California, United States. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Lockeford as a census-designated place (CDP). The census definition of the area may no ...

. The first vintage began a tradition of naming wines with exclusively non-alphabetic symbols (in a style often used to replace profane words in written English), such as the *%#&@!, a red blend of Mourvedre,

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeus ...

, and

grapes, and the %@#$!, a white wine made of

Marsanne Marsanne is a white wine grape, most commonly found in the Northern Rhône region. It is often blended with Roussanne. In Savoie the grape is known as ''grosse roussette''. Outside France it is also grown in Switzerland (where it is known as ' ...

and

Roussanne Roussanne is a white wine grape grown originally in the Rhône wine region in France, where it is often blended with Marsanne. It is the only other white variety, besides Marsanne, allowed in the northern Rhône appellations of Crozes-Hermita ...

grapes (introduced two years later)."Geek Sheets and Shelf Talkers"
Twisted Oak Winery web site. Retrieved Oct. 2, 2007. The unusual wine names were inspired from the owner and winemaker's frustration at being unable to come up with a good name for the red blend. The unique wine labels have been the subject of

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' ...

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...

.Federica Bissè (2007)
"Write this %@#$!"
''Vinowave''.

San Lorenzo al Mare San Lorenzo al Mare ( lij, San Loénso) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about west of Imperia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,409 an ...

, Italy. Aug. 23, 2007. The 2002 Calaveras County The Spaniard would be well received by wine critics, scoring 92 points in a review for ''

Wine Enthusiast ''Wine Enthusiast'' magazine is an American wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Differe ...

'' magazine.Wine Enthusiast (2007). ''Wine Enthusiast Essential Buying Guide 2007''. Running Press Book Publishers. Nov. 30, 2006, p. 736. With their own winery facility still under construction, Twisted Oak's 2003 vintage was produced at the facilities of Hatcher Winery in the nearby town of Murphys."Listing of All Vintages"
Twisted Oak Winery official web site. Retrieved Oct. 4, 2007. The winery opened a

tasting room Dégustation is the careful, appreciative tasting of various food, focusing on the gustatory system, the senses, high culinary art and good company. Dégustation is more likely to involve sampling small portions of all of a chef's signature dish ...

on Main Street in Murphys in July 2003. The tasting room is located in the childhood home of

Albert Abraham Michelson Albert Abraham Michelson FFRS HFRSE (surname pronunciation anglicized as "Michael-son", December 19, 1852 – May 9, 1931) was a German-born American physicist of Polish/Jewish origin, known for his work on measuring the speed of light and espe ...

, the first American to win a

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfre ...

in the sciences (in 1907, for

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

)."Twisted Oak Winery"
Calaveras Winegrape Alliance. Retrieved Oct. 4, 2007. The winery's own winemaking facility and estate tasting room were completed in July 2004, and included a 300 ft (91 m)

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

for

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

storage. The winery's first vintage at the Vallecito hilltop facility was 2004, and it produced 14 different wines. Seven of the wines carried the Calaveras County

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

designation, and five were sold under the

Sierra Foothills AVA The Sierra Foothills AVA (established in 1987) is an American Viticultural Area in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in the U.S. state of California in the United States. Wine grapes were introduced to the area in the nineteenth century during the ...

appellation designation. Some of the wines were estate grown and others were made from grapes grown in the Tanner and Dalton Vineyards of Calaveras County or the Sumu Kaw Vineyard in

El Dorado County El Dorado County (), officially the County of El Dorado, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 191,185. The county seat is Placerville. The County is part of the Sacramento-Roseville-Ar ...

.Debs, Dr
"Winery Watch: Twisted Oak Winery"

Good Wine Under $20
'. May 18, 2007. In the vintages since the winery's completion, Twisted Oak has bottled between 8,000 and 14,000 cases of wine. The winery facility is designed to support the production of 13,000 to 14,000 cases of wine at capacity. For the 2007 vintage, about 20% of the grapes used by the winery were estate-grown, including all the fruit for The Spaniard and Torcido label wines, with the rest purchased from other vineyards.Nichols, Dana M. (2007)
"The Crush Is On"
''San Joaquin County News''. Sep. 30, 2007. A tasting room at the winery is open to the public daily, and a tasting room on Main Street in downtown Murphys is open year round. The winery also has its own wine club, which it calls "The Twisted Few".

Wines and vineyards

Twisted Oak Winery produces both red and white wines made from the grape varieties native to Spain and southern France. White wines include

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

Viognier Viognier () is a white wine grape variety. It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu in the Rhône Valley.J. Robinson ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 754 Oxford University Press 2006 Outside of the Rh ...

and

Verdelho Verdelho is a white wine grape grown throughout Portugal, though most associated with the island of Madeira, and also gives its name to one of the four main types of Madeira wine. At the turn of the 20th century it was the most widely planted whi ...

bottlings as well as blends made from Marsanne, Rousanne, and Viognier. The winery has produced one

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact metho ...

made from Grenache. The winery's signature red wine bottling, The Spaniard, is a blend of Tempranillo, Grenache, and Graciano grapes. Other red bottlings include varietal Tempranillo, Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Grenache bottlings, as well as red blends made with grapes including

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Leban ...

, Mourvedre,

Petit Verdot Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen it adds tannin, ...

, Syrah, and Grenache. The winery ages their waines in American, French, and Hungarian Oak

barrels A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...

.Bicais, Ben (2007)
"Twisted Oak Winery"
''Calwineries''. Retrieved Oct. 11, 2007. In 2007, the 2003 Syrah and the 2003 Spaniard both won gold medals in the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...

'' Wine Competition."Syrah/Shiraz - $15.00 to $24.99 - 2007 Award Winners"
The 2007 ''San Francisco Chronicle'' Wine Competition Award Winners. ''

''. January, 2007."Tempranillo - 2007 Award Winners"
The 2007 ''San Francisco Chronicle'' Wine Competition Award Winners. ''

''. January, 2007. Two of Twisted Oak Winery's wines won gold medals at the Orange County Fair. Later in the year, the Torcido won a double-gold and the Tempranillo won Best of Sierra Foothills AVA appellation at the

California Exposition and State Fair The California Exposition and State Fair (Cal Expo) is an independent state agency established by law in the California Food and Agriculture codes. Cal Expo is governed by an appointed 11-member Board of Directors and daily operations are managed ...

.California State Fair (2007).
"Commercial Wine Results"
California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition. Retrieved Oct. 11, 2007. The winery has two estate vineyards, one located on the property in Vallecito, and the other located on property owned by the winery near Murphys. The winery purchases grapes from ten other vineyards in Calaveras County and three in other parts of California. Silvaspoons Vineyard, located in the

Alta Mesa AVA The Alta Mesa AVA is an American Viticultural Area entirely located within the Lodi AVA in Sacramento County, California in the United States. The appellation's name is Spanish for "high table", a reference to the higher elevation of the land comp ...

, is the only vineyard outside of the Sierra Foothills AVA from which Twisted Oak Winery sources grapes."Where We Grow It"
Twisted Oak Winery official web site. Retrieved Oct. 4, 2007.

Custom releases

To help promote the winery, owner Jeff Stai has personally donated about 50 bottles of wine each year for use as

trophies A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals (or, i ...

in recognition of winning category performances in the California QSO Party, an annual

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communi ...

competition. About half of the wines are awarded to competitors in California and half to those outside of California. The wine trophies are personalized with custom front

labels A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

.California QSO Party (2007).
"CQP Awards"
Retrieved Oct. 2, 2007.

References

External links

El Bloggo Torcido
official winery

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

Calaveras Winegrape Alliance
{{Coord, 38.08597, N, 120.48845, W, region:US-CA_type:landmark, display=title Wineries in California Companies based in Calaveras County, California Food and drink companies established in 2001

History

Wines and vineyards

Custom releases

See also

References

External links