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 Hiding just over the Solano County border at the end of Drummond Lane is the award-winning Putah Creek Winery, the only winery producing estate-grown grapes in Davis, according to owner, Gene Glaeser. Currently run on a part-time basis, the winery now includes 55 acres of a great variety of grapes Gene’s been growing for more than 20 years. Gene recounts a bit of the history: "People have been farming this ranch since the 1970s. My predecessors planted a ’mother block’ (a group of grape plants used specifically for propagation purposes)." He said when he took over the farm, he sold grapevine cuttings for a period of time. Gene also sold the grapes and farmed rice, alfalfa, hay, wheat and sugar beets in those early days.
In 1997, he began planting grapes to produce his own wine. Up until then, the grapes were sold to Napa and San Francisco wineries, as well as home winemakers. In 2004, he began the transition to full-on winery with his first wine production. A 2005 Chardonnay and a 2004 Syrah were released in the fall of 2005. Gene says that he was inspired to make his own wine because "to farm grapes well, you need to know how to make wine." Just a year after his first run, Gene abandoned vegetable farming altogether and switched exclusively to grape growing. |
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