The Re-awakening of the Region

It was not the original intent of the Fellowship members to create a vineyard and winery; the original intent was to provide its membership with a retreat where they could realize their principles of self-development.

As good fortune would have it, one of Germany's most renowned winemasters expressed interest in the Fellowship's philosophy. His name was Dr. Karl Werner, and his family boasted 17 generations of winemakers. Dr. Werner was the founding winemaster at the Callaway vineyards in Temecula, California when he was introduced to the Fellowship. He came to the North Yuba retreat and immediately was struck by its winemaking possibilities. The land reminded him of his native Germany. He tasted the soil and recognized its unique terroir: the rocky red soil and the mountain climates could produce wine of distinct character, he felt, for the vines would have to struggle in this soil to survive. The Fellowship in turn embraced his vision, as it so poetically expressed their philosophy of life.

Under Dr. Werner's direction, the members worked long hours to clear the land, carve terraces, and drill 135,000 holes for the vines. Some of the terraces were so steep that the massive D-8 bulldozer toppled. Because of the climate, Dr. Werner decided to install drip irrigation to water the vines. He experimented with different grape varieties and decided to focus on three: Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc.

Dr. Werner then turned his attention to the winery facility itself. He envisioned a circular concrete structure three stories high, two of them underground. The top story would house the stainless steel tanks for fermentation. The bottom levels would store the barrels for aging and the bottling room. These levels would take advantage of the coolness of the mountain granite, and gravity could serve as a natural pump, minimizing the stress of more aggressive, modern pumping systems on the wine.

Work continued on both the vineyard and the winery, and in 1979 the first grapes were harvested. That first harvest took only 20 minutes and produced one barrel of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Dr. Werner believed that Nature arrives at perfection slowly. There was no rush to market. In 1988, Renaissance Vineyard and Winery sold 5000 cases. Sales doubled in 1989 and then again in 1990. Today, annual sales average 30,000 cases.

An important transition

Dr. Werner's health began to decline in 1984. His wife, Diana, who had a viticultural degree and had worked at his side from the beginning, assumed increasingly more responsibility for daily operations. With Dr. Werner's death in 1988, just a few months before the first cases were sold commercially, Mrs. Werner assumed full responsibility as winemaker.

The emphasis during these early years was on luscious German-style dessert white and blockbuster red wines with an ability to age between 20 and 50 years. It soon became apparent, however, that the Renaissance terroir (pronounced "terr-whar") was suited more to red wine, and that German winemaking techniques, which is suited more to white wines, did not lend themselves to the type of Cabernet Sauvignon that Renaissance was producing.

Again, good fortune smiled. In the early 1990s a French-Israeli would arrive to guide Renaissance Vineyard and Winery to the next level of world-class winemaking.