Leal makes Food and Wine magazine’s top 20 Best New Wineries in
the world
Hollister – Bordeaux. Napa Valley. San Benito County?
The local region continued its momentum as a wine-producing darkhorse, as the county’s own Leal Vineyards was named to Food and Wine magazine’s list of 20 Best New Wineries in the world.
The brand, founded three years ago by a pair of then 30-year-olds, has catapulted onto many prominent restaurants’ wine lists, and now into a notable distinction shared by wineries from the likes of New Zealand, Italy and South Africa.
One of the label’s partners and its namesake, Frank Leal, now 33, was astounded when he heard about the Food and Wine accolade last Thursday.
“We’ve been going nuts,” Leal said Tuesday from Leal Vineyards, located on Maranatha Drive off Fairview Road in Hollister.
The prestigious list was published in the October edition of Food and Wine, a national magazine. Leal Vineyards’ 2001 Syrah, a red wine, brought home the prize. That product, incidentally, was the result of their first harvest, he said.
Leal and San Jose high school buddy David Griffith – known as Griff – started researching the idea of opening a winery in 1998. Leal owned a contracting business before turning his wine-growing hobby into a career.
Neither went to school for viticulture, the science of growing grapes. They didn’t even have a business plan going in.
Leal attributed their relatively sudden success to their wines being “approachable,” much like his and Griff’s personalities.
“We’re approachable guys so that makes our wines approachable,” Leal said. “We’re not wine snobs. We’re not wine geeks. We just enjoy wine.”
The wine is approachable, he said, because it sells for a reasonable price – $24 a bottle. But that doesn’t keep it off the wine lists of fine restaurants throughout the country – in San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, New York, Leal said.
The quality of restaurants carrying a label’s wine is the ultimate measuring stick for a winery’s success, he said. Leal Vineyards produces seven different wines, all under the Leal brand.
“We do have some kickass wine,” he said.
The Food and Wine recognition, meanwhile, isn’t the first praise for the local winery. Three brands of Leal wines have won 12 different awards from competitions and publications, according to Leal Web site.
He and Griffith, though, have more goals to achieve, Leal said. They’re on their way to accomplishing their first – putting San Benito County on the wine-growing map.
At least for now, the Food and Wine article says Leal’s Syrah brand is so good, “that it should, by itself, put San Benito on Syrah lovers’ maps.”
But Leal and Griffith have another ambition, too. They hope to make more people aware that wine can be an “everyday drink.”
They currently own 45 acres for grape growing, with a winery that encompasses 10,000 square feet. The winery can produce 5,000 cases of wine a year – and no more.
They plan to eventually buy more land for grape production. Leal would like to see Fairview Road become the next Silverado Trail – which runs along a scenic route in the world-famous Napa Valley region.
San Benito’s off to a good start. Leal Vineyards is joined by Pietra Santa, Calera Wine Co., DeRose Vineyards and Flint Wine Cellars to round out the area’s lineup.
Theresa Kiernan, head of the local Chamber of Commerce, said the local wine industry was already getting recognition outside of the area. She hopes Leal’s success further bolsters the area’s image and leads to more tourism dollars for San Benito County.
“People are going to be very, very impressed,” she said. “We could become the next wine country that’s visited on a regular basis.”
Locally, Leal Vineyards wines can be found at Dorothy McNett’s Place and many area restaurants. For more information, call Leal Vineyards at 636-1023.
Kollin Kosmicki covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach him at 637-5566, ext. 331, or [email protected].
