David Bruce Winery is a

California wine California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted ''Vitis vinifera'' vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. I ...

ry located at about elevation in the

Santa Cruz Mountains AVA The Santa Cruz Mountains AVA is an American Viticultural Area centered on the Santa Cruz Mountains. Its territory expands three California counties, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Mateo. Established in 1981 by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and ...

above

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

in Northern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It was established by dermatologist David Bruce, M.D., in 1964 about a mile away from the Martin Ray Vineyard that often appears on

vineyard designated wines A vineyard designated wine is a wine produced from the product of a single vineyard with that vineyard's name appearing on the wine label. Throughout the history of winemaking and viticulture, the differences in quality between one plot of land ...

from David Bruce.J. Gordon (ed) ''Opus Vino'' pg 75, DK Publishing New York 2010, The vineyard achieved international visibility when one of the winery's

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

s was featured in the 1976

wine tasting Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...

competition that became known as the

Judgment of Paris Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to decision-making, make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct u ...

. Taber, George M ''Judgment of Paris: California vs France and the Historic Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine''. NY: Simon & Schuster, 2005. . Today the winery specializes in

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

History

David Bruce Winery was founded during the revival of the Santa Cruz Mountain wine industry between the 1950s and 1970s. Bruce selected his vineyard site because of its proximity to Martin Ray and with the belief that the high elevation and

mesoclimate In viticulture, there are several levels of regional climates that are used to describe the ''terroir'' or immutable characteristics of an area. These levels can be as broad as a macroclimate which includes entire wine regions or as small as a mic ...

of the area would be well suited for growing the Burgundian wine grapes of Pinot noir and Chardonnay. In 1975, British wine merchant Steven Spurrier selected 1973 bottling of David Bruce Chardonnay for his 1976 Paris tasting that would put Californian Chardonnays and

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

against their

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

counterparts from Burgundy and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, respectively. While the overall Chardonnay category was won by a Californian wine from

Napa Valley Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...

, the 1973 David Bruce Chardonnay placed last of the 10 Chardonnays being tasted.

References

External links

David Bruce Winery
{{Authority control Wineries in Santa Cruz Mountains Companies based in Santa Clara County, California American companies established in 1961 Food and drink companies established in 1961