(Above, current proprietors Jeffrey and Ellie Patterson atop Mount Eden in 1981)
PRODUCER: Mount Eden Vineyards, Domaine Eden Vineyards
REGION: Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA
WINEMAKERS: Jeffrey Patterson, Reid Patterson, Austin Chin
Silicon Valley is widely regarded as the world's greatest hub of technological innovation, a bustling urban expanse located south of San Francisco. Perched high above this sea of modernity lies Mount Eden Vineyards, a winery that echoes an older time in California history, when bold individuals set off into the mountains to make their fortune wherever their hearts called. Founded in 1941 with cuttings from a vineyard 60-years-older, Mount Eden has long since distinguished itself as California's first - and greatest - boutique winery.
WINERY HISTORY
Mount Eden Vineyards is, without question, one of California’s most important and historic winemaking estates. Perched in the Santa Cruz Mountains at 600m above the Silicon Valley, the vineyards are situated above the cloud line and yield some of the finest Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in the USA. Originally planted by legendary (not to mention maverick) winemaker Martin Ray back in the 1940s - making it one of the oldest sites in the Santa Cruz Mountains - Mount Eden has been witness to its fair share of joy, disaster and intrigue over the years.
Since 1981 things have settled down on the mountain, after winemaker Jeffrey Patterson and his wife Ellie were left in control following a bitter ownership dispute between the previous shareholders. The last 30+ years of relative calm have enabled the Pattersons to get on with the business of producing some of the most age worthy wines in California, which is unsurprising considering that their clonal material is some of the oldest and most revered in the state – Mount Eden Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines can be found planted in the best vineyard sites from Sonoma to Santa Barbara.
VITICULTURE & WINEMAKING
Planted in austere, infertile Franciscan Shale amongst a cool, mountain-top climate, these low-yielding vineyards have been the basis for world-class wines for over a half-century. The character of these wines is deeply rooted in the history and terroir of this unique region, yielding wines of unsurpassed depth and intrigue. Jeffrey’s focus is on ‘wine-growing’ rather than winemaking, an obsession with the results of gentleness and naturalness guiding his method.
The Chardonnay is a wonderfully concentrated and long-lived wine, spending 10 months in French barrels (50% new). Pinot Noir, planted in 1945 from budwood dating back to Paul Masson plantings in the 1880s, spends 18 months ageing in barrel (75% new) before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. Further down the slope are the Cabernet Sauvignon vines, propagated from cuttings taken from Château Margaux in the 1890s. Post-fermentation, the wine moves to new oak barrels for 22 months. Usage of French oak, small, open-top fermenters and limited stem inclusion reveal the delicacy and finesse of these wines. The resulting style is a one that is elegant and complex yet quintessentially Californian. A second label - founded in 2008 and sourced from a neighbouring hilltop named Domaine Eden - continues to excite consumers with its high-quality wines at exceedingly reasonable prices. Made in much the same fashion as the original estate wines and offering superb value for money, these bottlings - depending on the vintage - can contain a large percentage of declassified ‘Mount Eden’ fruit.
IN THE PRESS
“This paradisiacal site, so isolated from all the bustle below, resists any winemaker’s attempt to impose rather than invoke character, and its history bespeaks a long legacy of distinctive vintages…While the wines may have changed stylistically, they always have been inspired more by personal, artistic ambitions than overtly commercial ones. That makes Mount Eden the quintessential California boutique winery, meaning not simply a small facility, but one in which wine is an avocation not a trade. Patterson and his wife Ellie have made their home on this ridge for [over] twenty-five years…..For them, as for Paul Masson and Martin Ray, wine at Mount Eden is a labor of love and a way of life.”- Paul Lukacs, The Great Wines of America
“Mount Eden Vineyards… is an almost forgotten treasure. One of the most historical wine places in California, it…..became one of the best-known vineyards in the United States for outstanding varietal wines from grapes like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, at a time when most American wines were field blends. Today, without reaching for the spotlight, Patterson still crafts wonderful wines in a classic style and prices them far lower than what comparable wines from other regions bring. I have drunk forty-year-old Pinot Noirs from this property that were positively extraordinary, and the Cabernets are even better.” - Rajat Parr, Secrets of the Sommelier
