Curtis & David, winemakers

Curt

Dave

Curtis & David started in 2000, as a desire to make a single barrel of wine. We began all this as wine-drinking buddies, learning winemaking as cellar rats working for another winery. We ended our first year making fifteen barrels, a commercial winery and things haven’t stopped there.  We are now one of nearly 30 wineries in HumboldtCounty.   We are both employed in local emergency services. Curt is a Firefighter and an IHBA rescue diver / firefighter (check the link!). Dave is a Police Officer and cannot confirm or deny that there are any links to anywhere...  We’re both ski patrollers with extensive backgrounds in Rescue and EMS.  We like to think that we have a pretty safe winery.   With our first vintage, we produced about 300 cases. We now release 1100 to 1500 cases, depending on the vintage.  From year to year we include wines from vineyards that we feel are exceptional. These have included Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Petite Syrah. All of our grapes come from older vineyards in Mendocino and NapaCounties.   HumboldtCounty (especially near the coast) provides unique opportunities for wine making. Our winery is located at 1800 Q Street, in Arcata. The facility is a former mill and has had a variety of uses in its life. This location provides both a convenient facility, favorable conditions for slower primary fermentation as well as easy barrel aging.   We do all the winemaking in Arcata. The fruit is transported to our winery where we crush, ferment, barrel and bottle the wines. The only thing we don’t have is a chateau.   Because we don’t have to contend with higher temperatures, fermentation takes place over double or triple the time encountered in the wine country. This provides excellent color and flavor extraction. While some of our grapes come from organically grown vineyards, we employ conventional winemaking methods to produce our wines. We use a combination of natural and cultured yeast and ferment in open bins. The grapes are put through extended maceration before pressing. Aging in a combination of American and European (French and Hungarian) barrels is complete in 18 to 24 months. None of our wines are fined or filtered.   Through the processes we employ, we produce wine crafted with minimal manipulation.