The Scheid Family is Monterey's largest family-owned grape grower and winemaker.
At the very least, their grapes are used by many of the region's leading wineries.
The Scheid Family is one of the few wineries in the United States that has its own wind power generation facility and is also committed to sustainability.The Scheid Vineyards series is a rare wine that can usually only be purchased by visiting the tasting room.
<Limited quantity> Chardonnay, the undisputed queen of white wines, is grown throughout the naturally blessed state of Monterey.
But even wineries from other regions recognize Monterey as a Chardonnay hotbed.
The cool coastal climate, with morning fog that often persists well into the day, allows complex fruit flavours to develop while retaining all-important acidity.
These optimal conditions put Monterey County on par with the best growing locations in the world.
Each vintage, we strive to create a Chardonnay that allows the beauty of the Monterey AVA to shine through.
Through the skillful use of barrels, we aim to enhance, rather than diminish, the vibrant tropical fruit flavors that characterize Monterey Chardonnay.
Led by fruit flavors of pineapple, pear and citrus, the 2020 Chardonnay is bright and lively in style, striking the perfect balance between richness and freshness.
Medium bodied with a crisp, balanced acidity, it finishes with butterscotch, vanilla and a hint of oak.
In 2020, we used grapes from five of our own vineyards.
The northernmost vineyard, Riverview, located near the town of Soledad, offers concentrated flavors and distinctive minerality.
Greenfield's trio, Mesa del Rio, Viento and Shaido, bring lively flavors and great structure and acidity.
And Isabel's Vineyard, a small 0.8 hectare vineyard on River Road, adds subtle flavors and a pleasant mouthfeel to the final blend.
The combination of these fields creates a synergistic effect, ensuring that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
The 2020 growing season was marked by a mild winter followed by spring rains and mild temperatures.
The grapes ripened evenly thanks to sunny days with 30°C temperatures and cool evenings with 13°C temperatures.
Rising temperatures later in the season allowed the grapes to be harvested a little earlier than normal, with the first grapes harvested in mid-August.
This was a blessing in disguise, as storms in late August sparked numerous fires across Monterey County.
Fortunately, grapes from vineyards close to the fire had already been harvested and strong winds off Monterey Bay helped disperse the smoke and keep it from falling on our vineyards.
In a year of challenge and change, 2020, we believe this vintage of wine is a silver lining.
The grapes were hand harvested, pressed and fermented separately.
A portion of the juice was fermented in French oak barrels to add complexity, roundness and texture.
The barrel-fermented wines are then aged sur lie with weekly stirring of the lees to further capture subtle oak notes such as caramel and butterscotch.
The remainder was fermented at low temperature in stainless steel to enhance the varietal aromas and preserve a refreshing, fruit-forward element in the final blend.
Scheid Vineyards founder, Al Scheid, first purchased 15 acres of land on the outskirts of Greenfield, California in 1972.
At the time, wine grape growing was in its infancy in Monterey County, but Al was attracted to the region's winemaking potential.
So they consulted with Professor A.J. Winkler, an authority on grape cultivation at the University of California, Davis, who had created a climate region distribution map for grape cultivation in 1960, and gradually purchased land within Monterey County, which covers regions from Region I to Region IV, and planted grape varieties suitable for each region.
Founded by Al, Scheid Vineyards grew steadily and continued to grow with the addition of his son Scott in 1986, grape growing specialist Kurt Gornick in 1988, and his daughter Heidi in 1992.
The company now owns 12 vineyards (totaling 1,600 hectares) in the Salinas Valley, which stretches 112 km from north to south, from Region I to Region IV.
The company also built a state-of-the-art winery with a production capacity of 1.8 million cases, as well as a smaller winery for handcrafted wines, and continues to produce world-class Monterey wines.