Carmel Magazine

I N 1980, RESTAURATEUR/ENTREPRE- NEUR WALTER GEORIS PURCHASED A 40-ACRE HISTORIC CATTLE RANCH IN THE RUSTIC CACHAGUA REGION OF CARMEL VALLEY. MUCH OF IT WAS AN ANCIENT RIVER BOT- TOM AND FULL OF THE SMOOTH, FIST-SIZED RIVER ROCKS THAT GEORIS CALLS, "CACHAGUA POTA- TOES." IT IS PRECISELY THIS TYPE OF SOIL THAT FINE WINE GRAPEVINES THRIVE IN. IT'S DIFFICULT TO FARM AND HARD ON EQUIPMENT, BUT IT MAKES THE VINES STRUGGLE. AND THAT'S A GOOD THING. "THE CACHAGUA AREA WAS KIND OF ROUGH THEN," GEORIS SAYS, "THE LAST OF THE WILD WEST. THE LAND ITSELF WAS CHALLENGING. ROTOTILLING IS HARD WORK HERE AND WATER IS ALWAYS AN ISSUE." WALTER GEORIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN A HANDS- ON WINERY OWNER. "I DROVE THE TRACTOR," HE SAYS. "I PRUNED THE VINES FOR 20 YEARS. I SPENT A LOT OF TIME OUT THERE, BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT WINE IS MADE IN THE VINEYARD, NOT THE WINERY." IN FACT, HE WAS ALSO THE WINEMAKER FOR 16 YEARS. GEORIS WAS THE SECOND TO STAKE OUT A VINEYARD IN THE AREA, AFTER BILL DURNEY DID SO ON A NEIGHBORING PROPERTY IN 1968. HIS FIRST PLANTING OF BORDEAUX CLONES DID NOT SURVIVE, DUE TO AN INEXPERIENCED VINEYARD MANAGER. LIVE AND LEARN. "THE NEXT YEAR WE PLANTED AGAIN— CABERNET SAUVIGNON AND CABERNET FRANC, MALBEC, MERLOT AND PETIT VERDOT—OUR FIRST RELEASE WAS THE 1983 VINTAGE," GEORIS RECALLS. SINCE DURNEY HAS UNDERGONE TWO OWNERSHIP CHANGES, GEORIS WINERY IS NOW THE OLDEST CARMEL VALLEY WINE OPERATION UNDER THE SAME PROPRIETOR. 192 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 Each Georis label features a Belgian dialect phrase that translates as "When the sun shines it's for everyone," meaning "we're all equal under the sun." Photo: Kelli Uldall

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