In the early 1970s, Tom picked grapes while attending harvest parties at Woodside Vineyards. A victim of the "wine bug," he planted a one-acre mountain vineyard in 1974, and took viticulture and enology courses at the University of California Davis while attending graduate school at Stanford.
Tom made wine under a home label until he founded Cinnabar in 1983. "As a hobby, I made wine at my home in Woodside," he recalls. "When interesting research projects dried up at SRI in the early '80s, I decided it was time for a career change. I became a full-time winemaker - a modern-day alchemist - blending science with a touch of nature's magic." In a span of 10 years, his one-time hobby had evolved into a commercial winery.
A scientist by trade, Tom's quest for vineyard property mirrored the scientific methodology he employed at SRI - he conducted a thorough search of parcels suitable to growing high quality wine grapes. "I always felt some of California's finest wines came from the Santa Cruz Mountains. I spent a year looking for the perfect site to plant a vineyard. Finally, I spotted our ridge top from a helicopter. It has great climate, mineral-rich soil and the right elevation."
Situated on the eastern rim of the Santa Cruz Mountains above the town of Saratoga, the site enjoys a long growing season, often extending through mid-November. Vines are farmed in well-drained red clay-loam soils with a range of exposures and elevations.
