Though long known for its old vines — some planted more than a half-century ago in 1973 — the excitement at Koehler Winery today is all about the new: new blood, new vines, and new energy coming from second-generation vintner Derek Koehler and relatively young winemaker Trace Brueske.
Koehler is the son of Peter and Kory Koehler, who purchased the Foxen Canyon Road estate from The Love Boat and Dynasty producer Douglas S. Cramer back in 1997. Raised in both Chicago and on the estate, the younger Koehler took on a larger role at the winery in 2022.
That was the same year that Yuba City–born, Wisconsin-raised, Cal Poly–educated Brueske came on board after working at Goldeneye Winery in the Anderson Valley, Bien Nacido Estate in Santa Maria Valley, and Stephen Ross Cellars in the Edna Valley, where he was assistant winemaker. His hiring coincided with the retirement of vineyard legend Felipe Hernandez, who helped plant the original cabernet sauvignon, riesling, sauvignon blanc, and chardonnay vines.
“When I came here, Felipe unloaded the vineyard on me,” said Brueske of his five-month crash course. Today he oversees both the vines — including some of the original old vine chardonnay, now 52 years old — and the cellar, with help from longtime employees Juan Alvarez and Artemio Ramirez.
After selling off a bit more than half of the original 100-acre ranch, including the statuary-laden Casa Blanca, removing older vines that didn’t produce much anymore, and replanting with new vines, the estate vineyard is now about 13 acres. The plans are to build it back up to 25 acres with a wide array of varieties, including riesling, grenache blanc, picpoul, pinot gris, melon de bourgogne, sangiovese, cabernet franc, gamay, cinsault, and mourvèdre. There’s also a head-trained block of grenache outside of the tasting room that currently goes mostly into their rosé.
“We’re just trying to plant in a way that we don’t have to sell any fruit,” said Brueske. In the meantime, he buys plenty of fruit from other vineyards across the region, including newer-to-Santa-Barbara grapes like mencia and gamay as well as petite sirah from up in Paso Robles.
“I make lots of different wines,” said Brueske. “This keeps it fun, and it helps differentiate ourselves.”
The Koehler wine club sucks up most of the production. “The biggest reason is Dan,” said Derek, referring to manager-of-many things Dan Zurliene, who’s been the face of the winery since 2002. He was the reason that Koehler was the first wine club I ever signed up for more than 20 years ago, and remains an engaging and constant presence to this day.
He was there, of course, when I visited a few months ago, as were Kory and Peter Koehler, who was born in Germany and made his fortune selling automotive parts in Chicago. “This is a hobby gone awry,” laughed Peter in his blunt, wry manner. “I couldn’t see a psychiatrist before I did this!”
After visiting the cellar and checking out some vines, we enjoyed a mostly vegetarian, brilliantly delicious lunch prepared by Kory from the freshest of produce. Aside from the winery talk, Derek was fired up to talk about a creek restoration project on their portion of Zaca Creek to protect the native steelhead in the waterway. “We’re restoring a mile-long stretch of creek,” he said proudly.
Perhaps best of all, the Koehler wines remain relatively affordable, with some whites and pinks below $30 per bottle and some reds below $40. Join the club and watch even those prices fall considerably.
Said Brueske, “I think we offer the best value for quality on the whole tasting trail.”
5360 Foxen Canyon Rd.; (805) 693-8384; koehlerwinery.com
More than 75 wineries and 25 food purveyors will be serving at the 41st annual Santa Barbara Vintners Festival on Saturday, October 18, 1-4 p.m. at Vega Vineyard & Farm. Tickets range from $25 (non-drinking) to $2,500 (private cabana), with GA set at $125. See sbvintnersweekend.com.
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