Sunday, August 26, 2001

By LAURA URSENY - Business Editor

Cecil De Loach says he'd love to build a getaway house on the Doe Mill Ridge property he leases outside of Forest Ranch and overlooking the Sacramento Valley.

That land has a higher calling at the moment - producing zinfandel grapes for the wine that De Loach will call Doe Mill Ranch. The wine is expected out next year, produced by the Russian River Valley vintner.

Grapes from the Butte County vineyard have been blended into wine for several years under the De Loach name. The vintner's 1998 California Zinfandel wine contained a majority of Butte County grapes, as did the 1999 Zinfandel California, which landed a gold medal in the 2001 New World International Wine Competition.

Butte County's grapes will have their own identity next year, when the Doe Mill Ranch name officially surfaces.

De Loach just finished the foothill harvest, taking a load of the dark fruit back to his winery west of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County. Last year's Butte County harvest produced nearly 60 tons.

In a telephone interview, winery founder Cecil De Loach said, "We're very pleased with the Butte County grapes. We've been working them for five years now."

He and his staff, including a vineyard manager, have toiled on the mountainside acreage.

"You could hardly see the grapevines. They were covered with poison oak and wild morning glories."

Newspaper accounts noted that vines were first planted at that location in the early 1970s, according to the late Paul Peterson, a one-time owner of the Garden Walk mall in downtown Chico.

Peterson purchased some of the property in 1980, selling grapes to Stevenot Winery in Murphys after reviving the overgrowth vineyard. In 1982, that winery released Doe Mill Vineyard's "Butte County White Zinfandel."

The vineyard was eventually purchased by Howard Isom of Matson and Isom Accountancy Corp. in Chico and Guy Hall of Cal Oak wood products in Oroville. The two men and Hall's family own several thousand foothill acres including the vines.

According to Bruce Hall, Guy's son, several wineries were contacted about their possible interest in the property, including Fetzer and Mondavi, whose interest was spurred by a grape shortage.

De Loach was the lucky one, signing a long-term lease for the grape-growing area. The Sonoma County vintner is interested in becoming one of the owners if the vineyard proves economically feasible.

"Sometimes I've questioned myself (about the property) and my bankers have questions too. I've poured a lot of money into it, but I remain convinced that when it's all over, somebody's going to think I was incredibly smart," said De Loach.

What convinced De Loach in Isom's mind was an opinion from the Corti Brothers in Sacramento, who gave a great evaluation to a small test wine from the property.

"When they tested ours, they said it was what zinfandel should taste like. I think that helped get Cecil excited," said Isom.

De Loach and his staff went to work clearing the overgrowth from 73 acres, working the soil and removing the stones. Several new wells were put in, and new vines are being planted, using root material from the original Doe Mill vines.

"A bright, deep ruby color," De Loach's 1998 California Zinfandel was made primarily from Doe Mill grapes. The wine was fermented 12 days in stainless steel tanks and aged eight months in American oak barrels, according to the wine's description.

The 1998 California Zinfandel "has a fragrant nose of strawberry-rhubarb pie, and red berry aromas. On the palate, plum, raspberry and cranberry flavors are complimented by hints of spice and oak."

Probably available around Thanksgiving 2002, the new Doe Mill Ranch wine will be sold through De Loach's wine club, in its tasting room and in scattered places around the county. De Loach also believes it will have a market in restaurants. And yes, it will come to Butte County, De Loach assures.

Brenda McLaughlin of Creekside Cellars in Chico already carries De Loach, including the 1998 release.

"De Loach has a good reputation," said McLaughlin, who had heard about the Russian River Valley winery's local connection.

Even though De Loach has been making wine since 1971, the Butte County project is a new experience to the one-time San Francisco fireman who bought 24 acres of old zinfandel vines as a retirement home site. A hike in grape prices turned him into a grower, and later a wine maker.

Of Doe Mill Ridge, "It's a nice place. It's kind of wild. It's very different from Sonoma County," said De Loach.

In taking back the hills, the grape growers dealt with hungry deer and the 1999 Doe Mill Ridge fire, which only touched a couple of vines.

At the 1,700-foot elevation, the "hang time" of grapes is different from valley vineyards, with grapes starting to grow later but "coming on faster" because of the temperature. "There's a shorter growing season."

De Loach who would like to try other varieties of vines there, including cabernet and sirah.

"If this works out," said Isom, "We might jointly develop quite a bit of acreage. Cecil's excited. We're excited."