Winery Section

Written by Lisa Crawford Watson

During the 1940s and 50s, a young man worked the land alongside his father and pondered the possibilities that lay on the horizon of the fertile South Dakota soil. In the year 2000, that man, Jerry Lohr, sold 600,000 cases of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah Merlot, Riesling and Valdiguie from grapes grown in the composite soil of Paso Robles and Monterey. This is the story of a boy who climbed over the rainbow to plant gold in the California slopes but who never forgot his roots.

Jerry Lohr in the Vineyard

Jerry drives a Jeep - partly because he likes it and largely because he doesn't want to drive what most everyone else can't drive. The belief in "something for everyone" that guides his life and his business likely stems from growing up on a family farm in a place where the land is richer than the economy and the only thing more important then the yield is one's family.

Jerry may not need a fancy car, but he gets pretty excited about the ride on his "400 horse" tractor while getting up close and personal with Paso Robles vineyards.

 

J. Lohr Winery, San Jose

"Lohr Winery has given me the chance to follow an agricultural passion and to come full circle to my roots, said Jerry. " I love farming, being out in the open. Some of my favorite times last year were the six to eight weekends I spent on my tractor. On that 200 acres, I know the soil intimately."

By now, he also has intimate knowledge of the wine industry. It was during the late '60s that the civil engineer and real estate developer, inspired by the intellectual changer of wine making, began an investigation of grape-growing regions, which culminated in the California Central Coast. "

Jerry's very much a hands-on owner when it comes to the vineyards," said winemaker Jeff Meier, who joined J. Lohr winery in 1984. "This is important because the wine is the grape. The happier the grape, the better the wine." In 1972 and 1973 he planted 281 acres of wine grapes in Greenfield Vineyards in Monterey County, followed by the 1974 opening of his namesake winery in San Jose. With Cabernet and other red varietals in mind, he purchased land near Paso Robles in 1988, which now covers more than 1600 acres. He also expanded his Greenfield Vineyard to encompass more than 900 acres of Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Valdiguie.

Jeff Meier, J. Lohr winemaker

Yet tilling the soils is one way Jerry Lohr reaps harvest from the land.

Jerry was only 28 years old when he partnered with another fellow to start their own company, "Saratoga Foothills Development Company," and began building homes. It was 1965. Nearly 900 homes and some 50 subdivisions later, Jerry has developed the skill and the reputation for highly personalized service in the design of quality products -not unlike the wine business, toward which he has begun to shift his attentions.

In fact , the 78-acre Macomber Estates development of 20 exceptional lots above 17 mile drive in Pebble Beach will be his final contribution to quality homes in quality places.

"As a builder," he said, "I operate a little like a surgeon - one patient at a time. I can expand the building business the way I can in wine. Otherwise, the two endeavors are very similar. You begin by selecting the right locations and then what you do in that location is exceedingly important. Both involve a three to five or five to seven-year process from the time you choose the location until you grow whatever it will be, whether it is houses or wine. And in each, the more you learn the better you become."

Learning has been a life-long endeavor for the Rhodes Scholar candidate who graduated from South Dakota State University in 1958 and then earned a Master's Degree in civil engineering from Stanford University, where he also began a Ph. D. program . He eventually received an honorary doctorate from South Dakota State.

Jerry certainly had the opportunity to define success in many different terms along the way. Yet his greatest pride and priority is his family.

One week after arriving at Stanford, he met Carol, his wife of now 42 years. The two share three children, Steve, Cynthia and Lawrence. Although each is actively involved in his or her own endeavors, Jerry is leaving the door open to the winery.

 

A J. Lohr hilltop vineyard

"We think our children will be involved in the business," he said, "but we don't know how or to what extent. Carol and I feel strongly that each should do what they enjoy and what brings them fulfillment. So far, they just seem to be planning their weddings in the vineyards."

Jerry's philosophy of fulfillment extends beyond the family and into the business of nearly 300 J. Lohr employees. It is a concept he sums up in one word: sharing - the wine, the challenges, the successes and the celebrations. And, it involves a generous array of bonuses and opportunities.

"This business has given me a chance to express a number of deeply held traditions through both the product and the relations with a lot of people," he said. "We can talk about the soil and the clones, but people are the more important part of this business. There is an art to working with people that can't be quantified. I respect everyone equally and try to create for each person the opportunity to fulfill whatever dreams they have. This is a shared adventure."

With enough land to continue producing wines to exceptional depth and complexity, Jerry Lohr seems well on his way toward his everlasting goals of "consistency in style, quality and value." Yet if you ask the 64-year-old owner/ president of J. Lohr how he would like to be remembered, it is in his answer that we find his deepest value: "He was kind to all people."

A courtesy of Central Coast Adventure Magazine
Issue of Spring 2001