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Welcome. We call our whimsical wines “Gatos Locos”. The name comes from a humble start in the garage of Nick and Celeste Guerrero. Making award winning wine, the young couple decided that they needed to label the wine they made in order to give it as gifts and identify it at county fairs. After all, a wine bottle without a label is like a present without the wrapping. Poking fun at themselves and their two lazy cats, they named their first vintage in 1992, “Dos Gatos Locos” or Two Crazy Cats. The name stuck and when their second child Andreas was born in 1996, the name changed to simply, Gatos Locos. Gatos Locos wines are produced at the historic Vine Hill Winery. The name “Vine Hill” is derived from the name of the Vine Hill Wine District in which our winery is its heart. In 1863, two brothers, George and John Jarvis, purchased the 300 acre “Rancho San Andres” in what is now the Vine Hill district above the city of Scott’s Valley. By 1868, there were 240,000 grape vines in the county, covering approximately 300 acres, 90% of which had been planted by the Jarvis’s and sold to other wine romantics (excerpted from “Late Harvest, Wine History of the Santa Cruz Mountains). By 1875, Santa Cruz County had an annual production of 70,000 gallons of wine made at 16 wineries. Following this boom period was a bust due to a glut of Mission grapes (almost the entire Santa Cruz acreage) and the introduction of superior European wines forcing most area winemakers out of business by 1877. George Jarvis left in exasperation to try his luck over the hill in Santa Clara. Younger brother John turned others’ misfortunes into his opportunity. In 1878 he purchased (or repurchased) 233 acres in the Vine Hill District. Part of this purchase included our present site at the headwaters of Branciforte Creek. By 1883 he extended the vineyard to 36 acres and had grafted the original 11 acres of Mission grapes over to the Zinfandel and Malvasia varieties. Other grapes also planted on the site included Baluzat, Mataro, Petite Pinot, Semillon, and Sauvignon Blanc. Over the years several different parties owned the property including the Tinetti family. The Tinetti’s sold the property to David Bruce in 1969. David Bruce, of Pinot Noir fame, purchased the property with the intention of making the finest Pinot Noir. He planted the site but never made a drop of wine. Instead he sold the property to his friend and fellow winemaker, Ken Burnap. Ken’s estate Pinot Noir became a California favorite and he literally helped to put Santa Cruz on the map by assisting in the establishment of the Santa Cruz Mountain Viticultural Area in 1981. In 2004, Ken sold his winery to Nick and Celeste Guerrero and Nat and Laura Simons and a few other friends. Serendipity played a role in this purchase as Nat and Laura were part of the original wine group making wine in the Guerrero’s garage. Throughout the property’s history it has been planted as a vineyard with the intention of making outstanding wine. Our Vine Hill Winery, planted in 1863 in Mission grapes and later re-grafted in 1883, is one of the oldest continuously farmed vineyards in the county and the state. It is a part of Santa Cruz’s wonderful past and it remains a part of its present and future. We believe like David and Ken before us that the property is best suited to producing outstanding Pinot Noir. We have recently replanted the vineyard and today it is planted to 6.5 acres of Pinot Noir including three Dijon clones 115, 777, and 667. The remaining 0.75 acres is planted in a Joseph Phelps Syrah Noir selection. |
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