An American Dream

By Karyn M. Litchfield

(Published in Feb. 2002 issue of Wine Spoken Here & May 2002 issue of Vine Times.)

I had driven by the winery hundreds of times in my lifetime, long before I would become involved in it's continued existence.

For me, it started in the early 1970s. Born in the Bay Area, my family fled for the foothills for a better way of life. With a carload of kids, my parents would drive weekend after weekend in search of a new place to call home.  The destination: somewhere in the hills, but not farther than the property we owned somewhere in West Point. They had their eyes on Jackson, but it would require many trips before the details were set and the move was permanent.

I have vivid memories of driving past the old Lockeford Winery in those days. Back then, one could see the words Buy Good Wine painted in enormous letters on the backside of the old concrete buildings.  I remember the enthusiasm of my mom and grandmother, longing to stop just once and taste the wines in the old tasting room up on the highway.

Grandma would dream of tasting at the same place that Lawrence Welk had frequented.  It was well known that he was a fan of Lockeford Winery's wares, especially the California Champagne that was produced on site.  He was especially fond of the initials LW that were used on the label, or so I've heard

Grandma remained a big fan of Lawrence Welk, but she would never realize her dream of happening upon him over a casual sip of wine. Though the conversations were the same at virtually every passing through Lockeford, we would never patron the old tasting room.

And I never would have guessed what would happen nearly 25 years later.

The old winery was brought to my husband, Don's attention as a potential hazardous site renovation project in early 1998. He had all of the necessary expertise in cleaning up contaminated and/or hazardous sites such as military base closures, oil spills, fuel station cleanups and levee repair & construction.  We both loved the property immediately.

The window of opportunity was short, but it didn't take long to decide to move in on this parcel.  The property would be sold at county tax auction, and we knew at least a few parties who would also be interested in this piece.

As time grew nearer to the auction, we grew increasingly anxious to successfully bid on it. We knew it was worth more than we had, despite the flaws. The ridiculously low opening-bid of $100,000 for 50 acres of industrial land made us nervous that the competition could out bid us. We came to want this property so bad, that we partnered up with the individual who introduced us to the property, to increase our buying power.

Obviously, we were the successful bidders, and could even have purchased it on our own! Regardless, we honored our handshake and proceeded to form the partnership to develop the property.

That was our biggest mistake, as the partnership was doomed from the start. We were mismatched altogether, and would realize early on that the sooner we separated from the arrangement, the better. It would take more than a year before we would sort things out. It was grueling and painful and more grotesques than any clean-up project we would encounter at the winery.

It took a lot of the fun out of the project for us, as it cost us a great deal of money, 25 acres of clean bare land, and countless hours of lost time ­ very stressful time.

Of course we inherited all of the hazardous waste issues, but at last, we were free to dream. By that time, it was early 2000, and that's when things really started developing.

 Our basic plan was to rent out the many existing buildings on site that previously provided function to the old winery. With the support of our newfound friends at Pacific State Bank, we were able to once again resume remediation of the site while we slowly started restoring the basic usefulness of the buildings.

Without a master plan or a marketing strategy, we proceeded to appeal to the wine industry, as it simply seemed to be the most logical place to start. We contacted Mark Chandler, the executive director of the Lodi Woodbridge Winegrape Commission, in search of validation and viability of the industry. We were embarking on a very new market to ourselves and had a lot of questions.

Mr. Chandler didn't have any immediate revelations, but was supportive and extremely pro-active in promoting the industry.  He immediately started referring people our direction as we felt our way through the possibilities.

It wasn't long before Mitch Cosentino of Cosentino Winery in Napa was directed our way.  This would be our first big break.

Cosentino Winery was in need of a processing facility, as their current plans were caught up in red tape and unobtainable permits at an alternate location. They had equipment, grapes and manpower, but were quickly approaching harvest without a facility.

We know that the impression of his first visit was less than attractive. But the zoning and use permit were already in place ­ something they lacked ­ and the proximity was close to a parcel he already had in the works in nearby Clements.  Ours would be a temporary processing facility for them, but it would save the crush of 2000.

Along the way, we were able to attract another Napa winemaker, Doug Peters of Peters Family Winery, who would also get licensed by the year's end.

And we would get a crash course in winemaking. 

In a very short time, we would clean, paint and replace windows.  We got our first taste of how effortlessly the nearly 4'-diameter diamond-blade saw would slice through the 15² re-bar laden concrete walls.

By August, we would start installing the first stainless-steel tanks, in which bulk wine would be stored and processed. The installation would be a snap for us, as we have pulled many tanks from the ground, replacing them with new above-ground tanks. Though we didn't always have the contemporary means of achieving our task, we had enough heavy equipment and experience to improvise.

And though some of these tasks were not outside our expertise, we had a lot to learn about wine.  We read books at night, started attending wine-related functions and paid close attention to details going on at the winery. We had an opportunity to witness first-hand what we were getting involved in and took full advantage

We even took our quest for knowledge as far as getting ourselves licensed as the Olde Lockeford Winery and get our feet wet with a small batch of Carignane grapes that Don had adopted from a nearby vineyard. As a fourth-generation wheat farmer from the Dakotas, he latched on to the patch and cared for them with great affection. As we approached harvest and came nearer to our moment of truth, our dreams were somewhat shattered with the realization that our beautiful old vine Carignanes that Don doted over so carefully, were actually old vine Flame Tokays!

It was indeed shocking to learn the news, and nearly put the skids on our winemaking plans for the year. We hunkered down and proceeded to ride out the crush with no intent to process in 2000. Forget the grapes, we were the ones who were crushed.

And we had enough to do anyway. Or so we thought/

It wasn't long before several local growers caught wind of our new facility and extra grapes seemed to be coming out of the woodworks! Though we kept our production small, we somehow came out of the crush with six different wines! Wines that would hold their own next to some of Lodi's best; wines that would take top awards among a state amateur wine competition.

2001 continued to offer opportunity in the form of continued interest in winery units. We were able to lease out space to about seven additional wineries that were able to process their grapes in time for the 2001 harvest. Among them were Cantiga Wineworks, Kreig's Kellar, Mosher Creek Winery, Terra Bella Winery, Vino con Brio, Watts Family Estate Wines and Wiens Cellars.

And if that's not enough, we have all but sold out of our remaining space after securing leases for yet five additional wineries: Borra-Nicholas Wines, DK Cellars, J.Paul Rosilez Winery, Joseph Narcizo Wines and Tahoe Ridge Winery, who will join us this coming spring.

We are calling the overall project Vino Piazza, which loosely translates as Wine Plaza in Italian.  With each winery an independent entity, and each with their independent tasting room, we will truly have a unique complex. We have reserved some space for a deli this year and have some very exciting plans on the horizon as well.

Additionally, we have incorporated our extensive, international fossil and mineral collection into our tasting room, which offers an interesting and pleasurable alternative to the average gift shop.

Upon occasion, we have been accused of using the collection to attract people to our wines, but we plead the opposite. The fossils and minerals long precede the interest we now have in wine, and conversely, we are using the wine to attract attention to our collection! And for no other reason than to share with others the fascination and interest we have long enjoyed in private. When asked what they could possibly have in common, my response remains: ³We enjoy natural history with our natural wine.²

And though our tasting room resembles that of a small museum of natural history, our zoning simply does not include a museum in its use. Had it been otherwise, our complex may well have become a museum of natural history. But as it stands now, the collection has rather become an exhibit, and a bonus find to the unsuspecting.

Though we face a few more years of hard work and continued renovation of the property, and continue to learn the challenges of producing and selling fine wines, we could not expect to be in a better position. We are truly enjoying what we are doing, and have discovered what we believe to be a new way of life to share with our family and friends.

Though we've met a certain level of skepticism along the way, we stand by our vision and believe in ourselves. Despite our challenges and mistakes, and realizing how many more of each that we face, we're content knowing that we are living our American Dream.