Chalone Vineyard

AVA

Chalone

Decade

1910s

County

Monterey

Current Owner

Foley Family Wines

Planted by

Lucius Charles Tamm, the original owner, planted the first vines at Chalone Vineyard in 1919

Wineries

Chalone Vineyard

Characteristics

Mineral and stone fruit, apple and citrus.

Description

Planted in 1919, it is the oldest known vineyard in Monterey County.

The first grapes were planted at the Chalone Vineyard by Frenchman Charles Tamm when his family became homesteaders on the Gavilan Range.

The soils of the land – composed of limestone and calcium carbonate under volcanic deposits left by prehistoric eruptions of the Pinnacles volcano – bear a remarkable resemblance to the soils of Burgundy. It is very likely that it was the recognition of these soils by either Charles Tamm or his father Jean-Auguste that attracted them to this site.

Chalone is the name of the American Indian tribe that inhabited the Gavilan Range in what is now Monterey County. Chalone Vineyard is one of the oldest Chenin Blanc vineyards in California and one of the few remaining today.

Certified