Booker expands estate with new 27-acre vineyard in Willow Creek
– Booker Vineyard & Winery has announced an expansion of its original estate into a contiguous 27-acre vineyard in the Willow Creek District of Paso Robles.
The vineyard was acquired from the neighboring Caliza Winery. Like the original Booker estate, this site is predominantly planted to Rhône varieties, including Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Viognier. The steep slopes, limestone soils, and marine-influenced climate produce both a quality and a character that are worthy of the Booker name.
“We know this site well, having shared a fenceline with it for so many years,” said farmer-winemaker Eric Jensen, who founded Booker Vineyard in 2001. “We’re excited for that fence to come down and to bring this incredible vineyard into the Booker fold with the blessing from our friends at Caliza.”
Caliza’s founder-winemaker Carl Bowker said, “We are pleased to entrust this jewel of a vineyard to our longtime friends and neighbors at Booker, especially because we know that they will do right by the land. We have an agreement to continue sourcing fruit from this site, allowing us to maintain the consistent character of Caliza wines.”
Farmer-Winemaker Eric Jensen.
Jensen planted the original Booker estate vineyard in 2001 and launched Booker wines starting with the 2005 vintage. Booker is known for producing some of California’s most respected Rhône-style wines. Booker’s 2013 Fracture received 100 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, and the 2014 Oublié ranked #10 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of the Year for 2017.
Embracing Biodiversity & Open Space
The former Caliza vineyard was farmed with organic methods for more than four years prior to coming into the Booker fold. Senior vineyard manager Hilary Graves now aims to achieve the same certifications for this property that Booker has already attained at its original estate: California Certified Organic Farmers and Regenerative Organic Certified.
Senior vineyard manager Hilary Graves
Another aspect of the new site is its 33 acres of surrounding open space and habitat, including native oak woodlands. This is similar to the 40 acres of habitat found at the original Booker estate.
“With regenerative and organic practices, the goal is always to increase biodiversity on the farm, and we do that by providing rich habitats for insects, plant species, and animals to thrive in,” Graves said. “Preserving these spaces is also our way of being respectful to limited resources here in Paso Robles such as water and woodlands. In so many ways, this is a seamless extension of our existing terroir and farming philosophy, and it will make a great addition to our estate experience.”
