Josh Jensen's and Calera Wine Company's histories are inseparable. Please see [People/Josh] for the rest of the story.

Josh Jensen's winemaker mentors in Burgundy were adamant that pinot noir and chardonnay must be grown in limestone-rich soils, as present in the Côtes d’Or, to make great wines. Upon his return from France in 1971 he spent two years searching throughout California to find limestone before finally purchasing, in early 1974, a high-elevation parcel with a limestone deposit of several million tons. Located 90 miles south of San Francisco and about 25 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, it is near Mt. Harlan in San Benito County. Its elevation is 2,200 feet above sea level, making it one of the highest and coldest vineyard properties in California.

Limestone had been commercially quarried from Jensen’s Mt. Harlan property a hundred years earlier, and to this day, next to his Viognier vineyard, there stands a magnificently well-preserved 30- foot tall masonry limekiln. The name “Calera” is the Spanish world for “limekiln,” which serves as the winery’s symbol and appears on every bottle of wine.

In 1975, Josh planted his first 24 acres of pinot noir in three separate parcels. In the Burgundian tradition, he named each parcel individually to emphasize the fact that each would produce a distinct wine. The original plantings are the [Selleck] Vineyard (5 acres), [Reed] Vineyard (5 acres), and Jensen Vineyard (14 acres). These vineyards produced their initial tiny crop in 1978.

Josh purchased a neighboring 300 acres of the limestone laden mountain in 1982. When he planted 2 acres of [viognier] on its slopes in 1983, he was one of California's first winemakers to explore this variety.

In 1984, on these same slopes, Josh planted his first [chardonnay] vineyard (6 acres) and his fourth pinot noir parcel, the [Mills] Vineyard (12 acres). In 1989 he added 3 more acres of viognier.

Calera's newest vineyards were planted in 1997 and 1998. A 13 acre parcel of pinot noir was planted in 1997, in a steep field that lies between the [Jensen] and [Mills] Vineyards and in 1998 5 acres of chardonnay and 10 acres of pinot noir, the Ryan Vineyard, were planted on the south western slopes of the limestone peak. The vineyards are further explored in [Vineyards].

Josh made Calera's first wine in 1975, 1000 cases of zinfandel, produced from purchased grapes. During his first two years as a winemaker, he made the Calera wines in a rented space in a larger nearby winery.

In 1977 Josh purchased property on which to build the winery. He chose a 100 acre site on Cienega Road halfway between the vineyard and the town of Hollister. Located 1000 feet lower in elevation than the vineyard, this property was blessed with the all-important attributes of a paved road, and both telephone and electrical service (services which to this day are unavailable on Mt. Harlan).

On the Cienega Road property. a multi-level rock crushing facility had been built into the steep hillside in the 1950s. The facility was abandoned before it was ever used for crushing rock, but 20 years later the walls and terraces, with some substantial seismic retro-fitting, (the San Andreas fault lies just 100 yards away) became the heart of Calera's gravity-flow winery. The multi-layered hillside construction has allowed for the gentlest possible handling of the Calera wines. Wines move through the winemaking process by the mere force of gravity, rather than by the use of pumps.

Thus began a 25-year-and-counting construction project. In 2002, the winery is state-of-the-art, with barrel cellars built into the hillside, a top-of-the-line German grape press, and an Italian bottling line. New improvements include additional warehouse space, an underground wine library, and finally, offices and a laboratory (a major improvement after 15 years in a 50' office trailer). For more information on this innovative winery design, please see [Winemaking].

In 1990 the U.S. government approved the Mt. Harlan AVA (American Viticultural Area), which is high in the Gavilan Mountains (the lowest point is at 1,800 feet above sea level). While it is a large AVA which comprises 7,400 acres, Calera's are the only vineyards in the Mt. Harlan Viticultural Area. [Map]

The Heartbreak Grape, by Marq DeVilliers is a history of Calera through the early 1990's. An updated edition was later released that includes the history through 2006. We have a few copies of the book available at the winery. Please [email] us if you're interested in purchasing a copy.