Located at the entrance of the Cienega Valley, the Damm family of Hollister is opening the Damm Vineyard tasting room on May 7, after a series of private events and a soft opening or two. With three harvests under its belt, the winery will be offering estate-grown chardonnay and pinot noir, along with locally sourced viognier, petite sirah, malbec, and cabernet sauvignon, making them a great addition to the DeRose, Eden Rift, and Calera wineries a little higher up Cienega Road.
“The winery was something my brother Adam dreamed up,” Kristen Damm said. “We’ve always leased out our property, and we’ve had lots of lots of crops over the years. But he thought it would be kind of cool if we had our own crop. So we debated on what to plant, and we settled on chardonnay and pinot noir vines.”
Having planted blackberries the previous year, it took time and effort to convert the land to grapes.
“They had to pull out all the irrigation and everything we had here before,” she said. “A humongous tractor leveled everything, then a gentleman came and mapped it all out using a computer that had access to 17 satellites and was accurate to a quarter of an inch.”
The family took over from there, digging the trenches and then laying out the irrigation system leaning on the knowledge they had gathered from having their own water business, Damm Good Water, for over 50 years.
“We know about water,” Damm said. “So that part was easy for us. Then Adam, who is really good at collaborating, reached out to local wineries and people working in vineyards to get their opinions on things.”
The family continued its hands-on approach by handling the first harvest of pinot noir, wearing headlamps for lights late at night and pressing the grapes themselves.
“We really did a lot of the work,” she said. “We were all out there at one in the morning with little snippers. Then we crushed everything in this old-school wine press, taking turns ratcheting that thing down. In the end, we looked at what we had done and thought, ‘Well, that was really hard.’”
The tasting room was finished after the first harvest, but the pandemic stopped the Damms from opening it until now.
“We weren’t sure how to deal with all the rules and regulations,” she said. “But we started getting interest from locals who wanted to rent out the space for private events. So we went that route for a while. It feels like you’re in the country, but you’re so close to town, and people really enjoyed that aspect of it.”
The room will feature all the family’s available wines along with Pinnacle Beers, another passion project of the Damm family that started at the same time as the winery, which will be featured in an upcoming Eat, Drink, Savor article. The Damms also plan to have food vendors, live music and popup events. The family may also expand their hours depending on demand.
“You can draw a different crowd when you have beer and wine,” she said. “We have a lot of women that come by and say, ‘My husband’s gonna love this place because I can have the wine, and he can have his beer.’ Or vice versa—however, it works out.”
The Damm Vineyard tasting room at 3028 Cienega Road is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Damm wines are only available from the winery at the moment, either through direct sale at the tasting room or through their wine club.
The Wines of Damm Vineyard
2020 Humble Beginnings Viognier (14.6% – $32) – A nice introduction to Damm’s wines, Kristen Damm’s favorite, the grapes are basket pressed, then allowed a cool fermentation in stainless steel tanks. Very light in acid, this is a smooth, creamy wine with an aroma of French pears and a taste of mango and tropical fruit that resolves into a relaxed finish with notes of caramel. Damm also has a 2021 Viognier that was not available for tasting.
2021 Family Estate Chardonnay (14.1% – $35) – Fermented in stainless steel, this chardonnay has a light aroma of citrus and grape skins that leads to a lush taste of fresh green apples and kiwi, a crisp minerality, a tingling acidity, and a rounded finish. This is a refreshing, delicate wine that would nicely suit a snack of mild-to-sharp cheeses and freshly baked croissants.
2021 Vin Gris Pinot Rose (13.7% – $24) – A beautiful pale pink wine that comes from direct pressing followed by cool fermentation in stainless steel tanks. Dry and light-bodied, it has a sweet aroma of rose and tropical fruit and a very light taste of grapefruit and hibiscus. This was my favorite of the lighter wines and would be an appealing starter to a relaxed dinner with friends.
2020 Petite Sirah (14.5% – $45) – This is a dark wine in every way, from its deep color, woody aroma and fig and chocolate tones, all enveloped by supple tannins. It is smooth and eminently drinkable, with a long finish that brings out some pepper and spice.
2020 Malbec (14.2% – $50) – This is a moody, intense dark red wine with aromatics of dark fruit and a forest after the rain, with dark plum, chocolate, and herbal tones, medium to strong tannins, and acid that emerges in a long finish. It is bolder than most Malbecs I have tried and more assertive on the palate, which makes it perfect for heavier foods or sauces.
2020 First Harvest Family Estate Pinot Noir (13.9% – $48) – Spending 12 months in French oak and presenting it with a rich ruby color, a dark fruit aroma, and a young and vibrant flavor of cherry and cranberry, there is still something earthy and solid about it. With medium acidity, understated tannins, and a long, smooth finish, this is a supple and delightful wine and my favorite of the reds.
2020 Cabernet Sauvignon (14.2% – $62) – A fruit-forward wine on the lighter end of the cabernets, with nicely understated tannins and a flavor of rich dark fruits. There is a lingering minerality and acidity in the finish making it a very nice wine that would go with about anything you want to serve with it.
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.
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