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Birichino Winery co-owners Alex Krause and John Locke may have chosen Santa Cruz for their tasting room, but they have a deep appreciation for San Benito County, where they source grapes from historic vineyards, including Wirz, Enz and Gimelli, for many of their finest wines.
“We love the Santa Cruz Mountains appellation, our home appellation,” said Locke, “but, to me, the San Benito and Monterey County sides of the Gavilan Range are the most interesting places in all of California for grapes.”
Locke and Krause met at Bonny Doon Winery while working for Randall Grahm, who owns the Popelouchum Vineyard, just downhill from the St. Francis Retreat in San Juan Bautista. Both had worked for wineries before coming to Bonny Doon but gained important experience under Grahm. Locke said he would probably not be working in the wine business had it not been for Grahm and considers him a mentor.
“We were just exposed to so many regions around the world, including Spain and Italy,” Locke said. “Randall gave us a lot of rope to try different things. He influenced not just how we make wine but how we communicate about wine. We try to make it a multi-sensory narrative experience.”
Krause and Locke founded Birichino, Italian for “mischievous,” in 2008 and, building on relationships made through Bonny Doon, began sourcing grapes primarily from family-owned 19th- and early 20th-century vineyards.
Locke said they were particularly attracted to the grapes grown in San Benito County because of their uniqueness, derived in large part from the area’s weather and geology.
“Pour a wine from a Santa Cruz vineyard,” he said, “and experienced wine drinkers will be able to identify it, its varietal and its region. But with the Gabilans, many of the wines defy their varietal archetypes.”
Locke attributes that distinction to the soils in the Gabilan Mountains and their unique geology, which combines limestone and granite.
“Pinot noir from Enz does not really taste like pinot noir,” he said, “but if you taste enough wine from that area, they have a similar taste to Enz. So, the signature is Enz, not pinot noir. On one hand, you have power, weight and heft; on the other, detail, filigree and prettiness.”
Birichino offers over 30 wines online and through its tasting room, sourced from 21 vineyards. A substantial number are made from old vine grapes gathered from San Benito County or county-adjacent vineyards.
Krause and Locke are intrigued by these historic vines, which are like catnip to them. They are willing to take on scarce varietals when they become available, even if they may get as little as one barrel of wine for their efforts, as was the case with their 2022 Gimelli Cabernet Pfeffer.
“We have often joked,” Locke said, “that if somebody approached us with an offer saying, ‘John and Alex, we’ve got this 103-year-old…” and we’d say ‘Whatever it is doesn’t matter. We’ll take it.’”
Part of the attraction is the kind of depth and richness that old vine grapes can provide as their roots dig deeper into the mineral-rich soil.
“You can have a 15-year-old pinot vine,” he said. “It will keep improving, but it still has the potential to make a phenomenal wine now. But you get something like the Enz Mourvèdre, which was planted in 1922 and is a completely different beast.”
Besides its wide range of distinctive wines, another unique feature of the winery is the instantly eye-catching designs on the majority of its labels. These designs are based on woodcuts drawn from “A Description of The Northern Peoples” by Olaus Magnus, a work on Scandinavian culture published in 1555.
“We use them for most of our single-site, single-varietal wines,” Locke said. “When we start working with a new vineyard, we pull the book out and try to find an image that allows us to convey something relevant.”
Located in the Lime Kiln Valley viticultural area, where lime was once extracted to make mortar, the Enz labels, for example, show a medieval quarrying operation.
“It is our way of connecting everything together,” he said. “But it probably entertains us more than anyone else!”
I had the chance to taste a dazzling array of Birichino wines, mostly from the Gabilan Range, which Locke expertly curated. He is a man who clearly enjoys his work.
“I am very fortunate,” he said. “Winemaking is a fantastic job for people with a multitude of interests. There is an intersection of history, geology, anthropology and agriculture, and then there is the alchemical magic of fermentation that changes everything.”
The San Benito County wines of Birichino Winery
2022 Wirz Old Vines Riesling – “This does not taste like Alsatian riesling or like an Austrian or German riesling,” Locke said. “It tastes like a riesling with the particular flavor of the San Andreas Fault.” It is bone-dry and acid-crisp with a delightful tension and minerality, an apricot and lemon aroma, subdued hints of chardonnay, and a brisk finish.
2017 and 2021 Enz Pinot Noir – Four years apart and a world of difference, these are two elegant wines with distinct profiles. The 2017 comes across as the more serious of the two, with balanced tannins, deep dried fruit and a drifting acidic finish. The 2021 has much more dried cherries in the nose and tastes of much brighter fruit. Both are nice, but I give the edge to the 2017 wine, which Locke described as still evolving but slowly developing a melt-in-your-mouth umami.
2022 Gemelli Cabernet Pfeffer – “I never knowingly looked at a cabernet pfeffer vine until last year,” Locke said. For Birincho’s first foray into this suddenly famous varietal, this wine is beautifully done. It has an earthy, floral aroma that hides a dash of spice, very light tannins, a dried blackberry and plum taste, a tart edge, and that trademark white pepper finish.
2022 Besson Old Vines Grenache – Locke considers this wine to be Birichino’s flagship. “It has what we call the Ninja tannins,” he said. “You taste it and it seems so gentle, and you think it’s all the dangers behind you, and then you wait a few seconds and then BAM! It’s a stealth attack from nowhere.” One of the first local wines I had when I moved to San Benito County was a Birichino grenache that I tried while shooting a photography assignment at Besson Vineyard in Gilroy. It was an absolute revelation and cemented grenache as one of my favorite varietals. Head-trained and dry-farmed, the vines have been producing much sought-after grapes since they were planted in 1910. It has a rosemary-herbal aroma, a gentle fruitiness, pomegranate and pepper notes, some bounce from the tannins, and a smooth finish. I love this wine and highly recommend it.
2014 Antle Pinot Noir and 2021 Rodnick Farm Pinot Noir – The Chalone viticulture area, split between Monterey and San Benito counties, is tucked in next to the Pinnacles National park. The vineyard, which covers six different microclimates, was known as Antle until the Rodnick family purchased it in 2017. The 2014 has a bright, raspberry-jammy taste with a hint of cinnamon, light tannins, a bountiful aroma and a long and smooth finish. The 2017 is all plums and cranberries with an appealing dryness and a fascinating complexity. These might not be the pinot noirs you might be expecting, but they have more than enough character and charm.
Birichino Winery: 204 Church Street, Santa Cruz
Tasting room hours:
- Thursdays – 4-8 p.m.
- Friday – 1-8 p.m.
- Saturday/Sunday – 1-6 p.m.
Select Birichino Wines are also available for purchase at Crave Wine Co. in Hollister.
Recommendations for future Eat, Drink, Savor articles can be emailed to roberteliason@benitolink.com.
BenitoLink thanks our underwriters, Hollister Super and Windmill Market, for helping to expand the Eat, Drink, Savor series and give our readers the stories that interest them. Hollister Super (two stores in Hollister) and Windmill Market (in San Juan Bautista) support reporting on the inspired and creative people behind the many delicious food and drink products made in San Benito County. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.
