The Winery
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Wildhurst's production facility lies two miles north of the little town of Kelseyville, in the alluvial flood plain of Clear Lake and surrounded by vineyards and pear orchards.
Built in 1997, the winery lies next to the former Holdenried packing shed and storage facility - for in addition to being grape growers the family owns several hundred acres of pears.
The very finest in technology was brought in during construction, and Wildhurst boasts a Bucher bladder press, temperature-controlled fermentation tanks, small, open-top fermenters for the single vineyard red wine lots, and French and American oak barrels from superior sources in Nevers, Troncais and the Mississippi River Valley.
The Winemaker, Mark S. Burch
It was the common tie of farming that brought winemaker Mark S. Burch to Wildhurst Vineyards. Growing up in Hilmar, California, an agricultural community southwest of Modesto, Mark was actively involved in raising livestock for the Future Farmers of America. The earnings from his champions got him started on an agronomy degree at a community college, until he took a harvest job with Gallo and his direction in life abruptly about-faced. He transferred to Fresno State and changed his major to Viticulture, carrying a full load of classes and working seven days a week in Gallo's lab. After graduation, he earned a promotion to Production Supervisor. In 1989 a former colleague wooed him away from the Central Valley to Sebastiani in Sonoma and ten months later he was Sebastiani's cellar master.
Mark's dream had always been super-premium winemaking, and in 1993 he moved to Kendall-Jackson where he was promptly promoted to assistant winemaker. Through Kendall-Jackson he met Myron Holdenried, and the high reputation of Myron's grapes attracted Mark to Wildhurst Vineyards as consulting enologist. Mark's skill with the 1996 vintage convinced Myron that he had found his permanent winemaker.
Mark is proud of his hands-on training through the cellar to winemaker. Throughout the process he has been exposed to many different winemaking techniques, which in turn has helped him develop his own personal style. At Wildhurst Vineyards, he has customized his ideal workspace - from tank design to barrel and equipment choices - to provide himself with the perfect tools for his art. He introduced cold-soak fermentation to the winery, using an adjacent refrigerated storage area to extend the contact time between juice and the grape solids, greatly increasing extraction and improving the quality and complexity of the wines.
The result of Mark's creativity and vision has been award-winning wines. Wildhurst Vineyards' Chardonnays are regular gold medal winners at prestigious competitions around the country including the California State Fair, the Pacific Rim International Wine Competition, and the Orange County Fair. Mark's efforts won Lake County the region's first-ever gold medals for its Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. But it is Sauvignon Blanc that is Mark's passion. "Since arriving in Lake County, I have known that Sauvignon Blanc was a varietal with untapped potential. When joining Wildhurst it became my goal to produce benchmark Sauvignon Blancs. It took 4 years to build the program and for the hard work to pay off. The 2000 vintage was voted "Best White Wine" at the San Diego National Wine Show and the 2001 vintage was awarded a double gold, scoring 98 points to win "Best Wine of the Region" at the 2002 California State Fair. Sauvignon Blanc is our flagship white wine." In fact, the 2006 Sauvignon Blanc won Gold at the 2007 California State Fair.
"I bring a grower's outlook to winemaking," Burch explains. "Wildhurst is a grower's winery. Myron and I have the same desire to focus our wines on the quality of the fruit and the unique attributes of Lake County. The size of Wildhurst gives me the opportunity to truly hand-craft each wine, and I have access to fantastic grapes in an area just beginning to be appreciated for its quality."
If you have a technical question about our facility or the techniques he uses to craft each vintage, drop him a line at info@wildhurst.com
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