Wines & Vines: Vina Robles' international approach

The team behind Vina Robles in Paso Robles can only be defined as international. The winery's founder, president and winemaker are from Switzerland. A Frenchman handles marketing. A New Zealander is in charge of regional sales. Veterans of the California wine industry oversee viticulture and day-to-day operations.

As the wine business becomes increasingly globalized, such a team gives Vina Robles an advantage. The young winery--which still uses a custom crush facility and released its first vintage just two years ago--has distribution in three countries. Winemaking style also exhibits European influences.

"I think it helps us distinguish ourselves a bit in the marketplace," said Hans-R. Michel, winery president. "At the same time, we embrace Paso Robles and all it has to offer, and we are inspired by the freedoms and flavors of the California wine industry."

Vina Robles started in 1996, when founder Hans Nef, who grew up in a rural village outside Zurich, bought viticultural land in Paso Robles. Nef had looked at several locations in Europe, but when he visited the Central Coast, he fell in love with the climate, land and wines of Paso Robles. He asked long-time friend and business partner Michel to help him establish a winery.

"Paso Robles allows one to live a little bit of the 'American Dream,'" said Michel, who divides his time between the Central Coast and Switzerland. "Compared to Europe, establishing vineyards and winemaking are less restrictive here, allowing for more flexibility and more options to create something new."

This is not the only time Swiss investors have looked to Paso Robles for winemaking ventures. In 2000, Swissborn Hansjorg Wyss, who moved to the United States 30 years ago, bought the 900-acre Halter Ranch in west Paso Robles.

"It's a great compliment for the region when people from all over the world come to invest," said Neil Roberts, viticulturist for Vina Robles and chairman of the board of directors for the Paso Robles Wine Country Association.

Roberts moved to Paso Robles in 1996, though he had been consulting for vineyards there since the early 1990s. The former viticulturist for Oakville-based Robert Mondavi Corp.'s Central Coast operations, Roberts joined Vina Robles last December. Today Roberts oversees Vina Robles' three vineyards: Huerhuero Ranch, Pleasant Valley and Jardine. The properties total 1,238 acres, of which 881 acres are planted. Vina Robles uses about 15% of the fruit from these vineyards; the remainder is sold to other operations.

About 70 to 80% of grapes used in Vina Robles wine come from Huerhuero, a hilly, 863-acre property on the east side of Paso Robles. While vineyards in east Paso Robles tend to be warmer, Huerhuero lies at a crossroads for marine air entering the region from the Templeton Gap and Salinas Valley. Temperatures can swing as much as 40 to 50[degrees] within a 24-hour period.

Huerhuero is typically about 5 to 10[degrees] cooler than its sister vineyard Pleasant Valley, which is located farther north on sloping terrain and provides the winery with Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Huerhuero is also 3 to 7[degrees] cooler than Jardine, which is flat, and produces Petite Sirah and Sauvignon Blanc for Vina Robles.

Huerhuero's soils range from clay loam to sandy loam, with rocky calcareous subsoils, and vary within each block. There is also some limestone in the vineyard.

Fourteen varieties of grapes are grown there. Though the sustainably farmed vineyard is largely planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, the most commonly grown varieties in Paso Robles, it is also home to Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Mourvedre and Grenache.

Additionally, Huerhuero has an acre of Touriga Nacional and almost 6 acres of Tannat, with which winemaker Matthias Gubler is experimenting.

"We try to grow what will do well in Paso," said Gubler, who has a background in viticulture and enology and spends at least two days a week in the vineyard. "We like Rhones, southern French varieties, some Bordeaux and some Spanish."

Vina Robles' flagship wine is Signature, a blend of Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah and Syrah. The 2002 vintage was rated 92 points in the May issue of Patterson's Beverage Journal, and received five stars from Restaurant Wine. Also garnering accolades are the 2002 Zinfandel Westside, which scored 91 points in the June/July issue of Wine News, and the 2002 Petite Sirah Jardine, which received four stars from Restaurant Wine.

Besides providing most of the Vina Robles fruit, Huerhuero is the site of a 42-lot development that is part of San Luis Obispo County's agriculture cluster program, which allows property owners to build homes on small portions of their land if they agree to preserve the remainder as open space. Lots should be completed this month, and buyers will be able to purchase them and build custom homes. Vina Robles operations manager Creighton MacDonald couldn't yet say how much the lots will cost.

Vina Robles plans to build a winery facility on Huerhuero as well. Construction will likely begin once Vina Robles is finished building its 15,000-square-foot visitor center on a 30-acre parcel just off of Highway 46 East. A small head-trained vineyard and a 60-room hotel--the largest overnight accommodations to be built by a Paso Robles winery--will also be developed there.

Until its winery facility is built, Vina Robles continues to make wine at Courtside Cellars in San Miguel, just north of Paso Robles. Though the custom crush facility is shared by a number of winemakers and wineries, Vina Robles has its own equipment.

Instead of using Courtside Cellars' long hose to transport wine from the crusher to tanks inside the winery, Vina Robles uses a shorter hose to transfer the wine to its own 5-ton mobile fermenters outside. The tanks are then moved indoors using an electric pallet jack. Vina Robles has also purchased its own pump-over device, a propeller-like gadget called the Toad. Additionally, the winery has its own space and equipment in the Courtside Cellars lab.

"The main reason for this is for me to have full control of what's happening," Gubler said. "We want hands-on winemaking, full control over the whole process."

At 32 years old, Gubler is considered young in the winemaking world. But Gubler, who was born in northwestern Switzerland, has been working in the wine industry since 1994. He has worked harvests all over the world, from Hopland to Valais, the viticultural heartland of Switzerland, and the Cotes du Rhone to Tuscany. Gubler joined Vina Robles in 1997. His travels and European background have influenced his winemaking. While Gubler's style isn't necessarily Old World, neither is it what he calls typical California, or New World style, which is often characterized as strong and tannic, with overripe fruit, high alcohol content and lots of oak.

Instead, Gubler describes his style as bright fruit with good color, structure and complexity. He aims to balance acid, tannins and alcohol with the goal of creating a wine that is drinkable but not simple. His Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Signature blend are typically in the 14 to 15% alcohol range, while his Zinfandel is around 15.5%.

While Gubler tries to stay out of the debate over alcohol content and hang time, he said picking grapes when they've reached a higher Brix is more common to California. "For the most part, the climate in Europe is not as extreme as California, so you don't have the risk of heat waves that dehydrate grapes," Gubler said. "In Europe, you are also more likely to be hit by rain, so you might have to pick early."

Gubler ages his wine in French oak from five to six cooperages. He only uses a tiny bit of American oak, because he finds it too aromatic. Thirty percent of Vina Robles wine is sent to Switzerland, where Nef owns a wine import and distribution business called Nef Weine AG. The wine is sold to restaurants and retailers, including Moevenpick, one of Switzerland's premier wine shops. Vina Robles wine can also be found in Nef's three restaurants in the Zurich area.

Additionally, the winery has an account with the Park Hyatt Tokyo. Distribution in the U.S. has grown as well, expanding to 24 states from 10 a year ago. In fact, Vina Robles was recently picked up by the new Wynn Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Despite these successes, director of sales and marketing Marc Laderriere believes many challenges remain. "We're seeing some small distributors opening doors and taking gutsy moves," Laderriere said. "But the biggest problem for sales and marketing is still grabbing people's attention and getting them to move wine through."

Laderriere would like to find distributors in at least 37 states so Vina Robles can attract national restaurant chains such as P.F. Chang's. He also hopes to build relationships with sommeliers and chefs. Production, which is currently at 15,000 cases each year, will also likely increase to 35,000 cases in the future. But the Vina Robles team doesn't know how long it will take for this to happen. For them, growth is a step-by-step process.

"This is all part of a long-term plan built on quality and patience, two virtues that are very helpful in the wine business," Michel said. "The quality of our products and our ability to anticipate market trends will determine how quickly we can grow. Plans are important, but they are mostly made to be changed over time and for us to remain flexible."

(Michaela Baltasar has been writing about the San Luis Obispo County wine industry for two years. She now lives in San Francisco, where she works full-time as a business reporter for Crittenden Research and also has a part-time job in Wattle Creek Winery's tasting room.)