Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/856465
256 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 1 7 how we would make it work, but we felt a strong pull to the land." Two years later, with vines planted but no wine yet in the bottle, Garrett found a coffee table book about the history of Carmel Valley. On the final page, he noticed a detailed account about famed aviator Charles Lindbergh, who spent time in Carmel Valley during the 1920s testing a sailplane designed by William Hawley Bowlus— Garrett's great-grandfather who oversaw construction of Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis." Attempting to set a record by soaring from San Francisco to Los Angeles, the duo took test flights using the breezes along the mid-Carmel Valley ridgetops. "We had no idea that my great-grandfather flight-tested that sailplane in the valley, including right here on this ridge," Garrett says. "It turns out we had a deeper connection to this land than we could have ever imagined." The name of the fledgling winery became obvious—and on the label they used a gos- samer image of that Albatross sailplane that now sits in the Smithsonian. That serendipitous connection—75 years after the fact—makes for a fun story, but for Garrett it goes much deeper. His great-grandfa- ther went down in history as a pioneer and a dreamer, yet a footnote to others who savored the limelight or put profits before practicality. William Hawley Bowlus also designed the first Airstream trailer, but the Great Depression killed his market, and one-time employee Wally Byam dusted off the designs following the war and created a multi-billion- dollar company. Bowlus died in 1967, largely broke and obscured by others, but with a reputation for demanding quality and craftsmanship. Ever ything had to be perfect, and that took priority over any bottom line. Garrett Bowlus embraces that philosophy in his winemaking. "It's always quality over quanti- ty," he says. "That's how to create wine with the truest expression of this land." Bowlus demonstrates how his crew hand- pulls leaves and prunes excess growth from the vine. Given adequate water and a place to climb, a grapevine will happily send out long, fast-growing shoots without devoting energies Brad and Garrett Bowlus chose the name Albatross Ridge for their winery after the Albatross sailplane designed by Brad's grandfather and tested off the ridge where their grapes now grow. The plane is in the Smithsonian. Garrett and his father Brad fulfilled this shared dream in 2008; the plan hatched when the two toured Burgundy to celebrate Garrett's college graduation.