December 14, 2006
By Marianne Lucchesi Hamilton

There are events in life that seem purely accidental. But when viewed later with a bit of perspective, one realizes they actually happened for a reason. And then there’s the stuff that has no explanation whatsoever.

Thérèse and Dan Martin.

Ask Dan and Thérèse Martin, owners of Gilroy’s Martin Ranch Winery, how they got started on the road to creating their award-winning wines, and you’ll hear a remarkable story that combines all three. Accident, serendipity, and luck — along with a lot of talent and determination — seem to have played equal roles in their success.

Twenty-two years ago, the husband and wife team launched the first of their three independent grocery stores, in Watsonville, California. Thanks to the warm, homey style of their store (a direct reflection of their personalities), their single shop soon became three. Business and life were good.

Then came the devastating Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989. One store was totally destroyed; the other two were severely damaged. Dan recalls, “We decided to diversify and try something new; something we thought would be more stable. As grocers we’d been doing a lot of wine tasting, as part of the purchasing process for our store. “

“I had bought a piece of property in Gilroy in 1972,” he continues. “It’s located in a region known for growing quality wine grapes, so in 1993 we planted our first vineyard. At the time we said ‘we are not going to be a winery’; we were just going to sell the fruit to local winemakers. By 1997 we were ready to start sourcing.”

Fortunately (or unfortunately), 1997 happened to be a bumper year for grapes. The Martins watched in disbelief as their first Cabernet vines burst forth with nearly four times as much fruit as anticipated. With the security of a firm contract for fifteen tons, plus any overage, the Martins went to work bringing in the harvest.

Here Thérèse picks up the tale. “We finished on a Thursday; the next day was our anniversary. The winery picked up a load of fruit, and we went back home to celebrate our first harvest and our anniversary with a special bottle of wine. At 9:00 that night, the phone rang: they weren’t taking all of the fruit.”

Several frantic calls later, the Martins managed to sell off all but a half-ton of their harvest, albeit at a greatly reduced rate. “What it pointed out to us was how vulnerable you can be as a grower,” Dan observes. “In truth, agricultural contracts are never iron-clad. Even when you think you’re covered, it can still be a struggle to get what’s coming to you.”

An important lesson learned. Yet this brush with the darker side of commerce also led to the Martins’ launch into winemaking. Dan happened to call his good friend and neighbor, Rob Fladeboe, who – when not hard at work as South Bay Bureau Chief for San Francisco’s KRON-TV – is an accomplished winemaker. Fladeboe offered the use of his winemaking equipment, and an extra barrel for storage. “He told us to bring that last half-ton down, and he’d show us how to make some wine and put up a barrel,” Dan laughs. “We did … and we had a great time. That was the start of long and wonderful winemaking relationship, and Rob’s now one of our favorite growing partners.”

As the Martins discovered how much they enjoyed creating “homemade” wines, they began asking their neighbors in the area about the process. They quickly found an extremely open, supportive attitude among Santa Cruz Mountains vintners. “The business is totally open,” marvels Thérèse. “If you want to know something, you just ask someone! There aren’t any trade secrets. The reality is, no two winemakers have the same fruit, or the same barrels, or do things the same way. Every artist has a different palette and vision, and their finished product is completely different.”

By 2001 the Martins were having better luck selling their grapes to local winemakers. But with the events of 9/11, California’s wine industry took a major hit. After the harvest of 2002, the Martins found themselves with fifteen tons of fruit and no buyers. This time around, their neighbor, winemaker Matt Oetinger was just getting his nearby Fernwood Cellars operation off the ground. His brand-new facility was mostly vacant at the time, so the Martins rented space and put up their first-ever vintage. Once they (and their customers) got a taste of their winemaking success, there was no turning back.

But there was one last challenge still to come. Dan, who’d grown up in a farming and dairy family, had always wanted to have a roomy garage-cum-woodworking-and-mechanic-shop. He set about building his dream structure, which would house four vehicles and his various toys. A short time later, the County of Santa Clara changed the terms of wine growers’ use permits. Under the new regulations, growers would be allowed to produce 10,000 cases of wine, without the need for additional permits.

So, about that shop? “It immediately became the first Martin Ranch Winery,” Dan notes. “It wasn’t ideal; we had to hand-stack our barrels, and we couldn’t drive a forklift in. But we made some refinements and corrections, and made it work.” The Martins then decided that if they were going to fully pursue winemaking, they needed the right facility — and Dan needed his shop back. “We drafted plans for our ‘dream’ structure, with an eye toward making it as ‘green’ as possible,” Dan adds. “Since then we’ve tweaked the facility so that it’s completely efficient, and we really love what we do.”

Thérèse pours a medal-winner.

With their operation fine-tuned and running smoothly, the Martins are now producing hand-crafted, artisanal wines, with fruit grown in their own vineyards and sourced from select growing partners. They’re also garnering some major industry buzz. Two of their earliest bottlings – their Thérèse Vineyards 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve and their Thérèse Vineyards 2003 Syrah – took home silver medals at the San Francisco International Wine Competition (the Cab has just received a 91 rating from Wine & Spirits Magazine). “What was so cool about that was that we’d only bottled the Cab in May, and sent it off in June,” says Thérese. “We sort of thought ‘what the heck, we like it; we’ll see how it does.’ Earning these accolades has given us the confidence that we’re going in the right direction with our wine.”

These days, Martin Ranch Winery is continuing along that winning path. Their Thérèse Vineyards 2002 Cabernet Franc earned double gold at the Santa Cruz Mountains Commercial Wine Competition in 2005; their 2003 Syrah grabbed a gold as well. 2006 has brought another bushel of awards for their Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, from multiple contests.

Industry acclaim is always gratifying. But the Martins say they’re much happier to be living out their dream. Both are in continuous-learning mode, taking ongoing winemaking classes and avidly reading trade journals. Thérèse is one of the few female winemakers in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and will soon receive certification in winemaking from the online program at University of California, Davis.

“We’re extremely proud to be a part of the Santa Cruz Mountains appellation,” Dan confirms. “Here the weather is ideal for growing grapes – with warm days and cool nights – and you won’t find anyone with any sort of attitude. We love it when people come see our operation and ask us questions, and want to learn about how we make wine. We’d like to demystify this whole thing – and want people to know that we have a type and style of wine for just about every palate.”

Adds Thérèse, “We’re very fortunate that Dan bought this piece of property back when he did – otherwise we may never have had the opportunity to do what we’re doing. It takes a lot of work and dedication, but the wine business is fun to be in. It’s especially wonderful to have people come down here and get to know us, and realize that we’re just regular people, who are doing something they truly love.”

Now, that’s serendipity.

Editor’s note: A link to the website of Martin Ranch Winery, as well as links to all the other wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountain region, can be found in the San Francisco Bay Area listings of Taste’s Resource Directory. Also in that directory are links to hundreds of lodging and dining opportunities nearby.