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Family Wine Business Thrives at Scheid Vineyards B Y L A R RY H A R L A N D 188 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 1 5 wine notes Scheid Vineyards President Scott Scheid joined the family business in 1986 after working on Wall Street. Scheid now has 10 estate vineyards on over 4,000 acres. The Scheid business mantra, from philosopher John Ruskin, is "quality is never an accident." Photo: Kelli Uldall I n the early 1980s, Scott Scheid spent his days trading options on Wall Street for E.F. Hutton. Then one day he took a phone call from his father…and when Al Scheid talks, people listen. On the advice of a viticulture professor from UC Davis, the elder Scheid had accumulated wide swaths of land in the Salinas Valley — a region classified as a grape-growing haven similar to Napa, Sonoma, Burgundy and Bordeaux. Sensing this untapped potential, Al Scheid hoped his son Scott would shun an economics degree and squash some grapes. "He said, 'Let's see if this wine business is worth pursuing,' " Scott Scheid says. "That's when my life changed." The early plan? To grow wine grapes — but only for others — as the Monterey Farming Corp. Then the blueprint changed considerably. Scott left Wall Street and joined the company in 1986, followed by his sister Heidi in 1989. With renowned viticulturist Kurt Gollnick also joining the team, the family-run business set out to make its own wine. Scheid's first vintage was a Cabernet from 1989. They made only 600 cases. Emboldened by that small taste of the winemaking business, the team redeveloped every acre, acquired an additional vineyard devoted to Pinot Noir, built a winery in Greenfield and launched the Scheid Vineyards label. Now in their 43rd year of farming, Scheid owns estate vineyards along a 70-mile spread of the Salinas Valley. The winery boasts a crushing capac- ity of 30,000 tons, but holds aside a smaller reserve winery for its small- production varietals. And it now boasts a national sales team that markets secondary labels such as District 7. The best way to taste Scheid's estate wines is to join the wine club, or sidle up to the bar at the well-appointed, always-crowded tasting room, one of 14 in Carmel. Now president and CEO of Scheid Vineyards, Scott Scheid, 54, does not regret swapping stocks for rootstocks. Scheid Tasting Room is located on San Carlos Street at 7th Avenue, Carmel. 831/626-9463 or www.scheidvineyards.com.