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TECHNICAL REVIEW G R N E MG R O N G N G WI APE AKI WI Renovated Winery in the Livermore Valley Las Positas spares no expense to control production from crush through bottling By Tim Patterson A Reworked facilities The Maiers named their venture Las Positas Vineyards, recalling the name given to the 40,000-acre Spanish land grant, which was first developed by Robert Livermore in the late 1830s and later became the basis for the modern city of Livermore. The vineyard, part of the 50 W in es & V i ne s F E B R uary 20 14 Jay Flachsbarth decade ago, Lisa and Lothar Maier decided that when they retired, they'd grow a few grapes and make some wine. Since they lived near the Livermore Valley wine country in California and liked it there, they figured that would be the spot. But first, they needed a new house. While they were house hunting, a gem of a vineyard parcel came on the market, prompting them to switch gears and bump up the wine project. It turned out most of the vines needed replanting, so they started from scratch, in the meantime making a bit of wine in alternating proprietor facilities at Wente Vineyards. They drew up plans for a new winery facility on the vineyard property, and just as they were days away from pulling the building permits, an existing winery facility, just the right size, showed up for sale, so they scooped it up and switched gears again. The only problem with their new acquisition was that it came with another 20 acres of vineyards, capacity they didn't yet have any use for, so they leased the vines to Wente. The winery was renovated and filled with new equipment, and Las Positas Vineyards went into full production in 2011. Just in time, they snagged a small warehouse for their case goods for a song, completing the end-to-end package. They still haven't found that new house. Free-run juice collected at the crush pad is routed into the winery's rosé program, which involves a small portion of every red variety processed by Las Positas Vineyards. Kalthoff Common portion of southern Livermore, held a fine location, but the vines needed work, so nearly everything was ripped out and replaced with a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Barbera, Petite Sirah and Tempranillo. The Kalthoff vineyard serves as the base for Las Positas' Estate wines and the majority of its 2,500-case production, all small-lot bottlings. The winery's three current white wines—a Chardonnay, a Pinot Grigio and a Pinot Blanc—are made with purchased Livermore grapes. While the vineyards in the Kalthoff area are fairly new, the vineyard surrounding the winery facility the Maiers purchased has a much older pedigree: It is known as the Wetmore Vineyard, named after Livermore pioneer grower/winemaker Charles Wetmore. Some day, Las Positas will use those grapes as it expands and likely replants many of the vines. Meantime, the fruit goes to Wente, with Las Positas receiving a few tons of selected grapes. The winery was built by a fledgling label that ran into financial trouble before it got to full production. The structures—the winery proper and a separate building with offices and an event space—had enough room for winemaking and tasting and was already equipped with drains, floors reinforced to support heavy wine Highlights • as Positas Vineyards in Livermore, L Calif., practices very modern winemaking on historic vineyard land. • ven though production is only 2,500 E cases per year, the winery controls every step from vineyard to casegoods storage. • or now, the winery's main goal is F improving quality, not expanding output.