Growing up on a vineyard outside of Healdsburg, Jeremy has a deep-rooted appreciation for the Sonoma County wine culture. “The wine, food, art, and climate of the greater Healdsburg area make it an extraordinary place to live. Did I mention the wine?”
After high school, Jeremy attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where he studied Agribusiness and of course, wine and viticulture. “The central coast, at that time, was experiencing a huge boom in grape plantings and wine production. There was a great interest from the industry, which in turn led to a certain electricity in the wine and viticulture programs at the university.” Post college, Jeremy returned to Healdsburg where he began in the cellar and vineyards at Mill Creek. “Being both in the vineyards and winery, I attained a great perspective of the relationships between the vines and finished wines.” Jeremy worked under Hank Skewis, Mill Creek’s former winemaker, for 4 vintages and also continued his education with wine production courses at UC Davis.
Jeremy’s first harvest as winemaker was 2004, which was the earliest in 100 years. “I took a sugar sample on the Sauvignon Blanc the last day of July.
21.7 Brix! We ended up picking two and a half weeks early.”
21.7 Brix! We ended up picking two and a half weeks early.”
Jeremy’s objective in winemaking is to essentially stay out of the way of the vineyard and the expression of the fruit. “My goal is to have the winemaking process and components compliment and enhance the fruit.” He maintains a hands-on approach that includes weekly vineyard inspections and smells and tastes each barrel of wine every six to eight weeks.
Jeremy lives with his wife, Mindy, in Healdsburg. Together they enjoy ‘the wine-country lifestyle’ with weekly trips to the farmers market, tending to the vegetable garden, golf, and of course cooking.
Cass Vineyards and Winery is located in the rolling, oak-studded hills between Paso Robles and Creston on California's beautiful Central Coast. This area that the vineyard calls home offers quiet serenity for the visitor and a perfect growing season for wine grapes.
Sited due east of the “Templeton Gap”, we receive the evening's cooling breezes that the west side of Paso Robles is noted for. We also rest far enough from the coast to generate the heat needed to optimally ripen the Rhone varieties grown in our vineyards.
One hundred percent of the wines crafted at Cass Winery are Estate Grown. Our vineyard surrounds our Tasting Room and winery. You can literally touch, taste, see and smell the grapes from the block where they were harvested.
The Tasting Room offers picnic fare and our chef prepares wine and food pairings daily from 12-4pm at the Cass Café to enhance the feel of this special environment. Scenic paths lead to oak-shaded picnic areas for our visitors’ complete wine country sensory experience.
A unique feature of our wine making is that all of the Rhone grapes we grow are ENTAV certified. ENTAV (Establissement National Technique pour l’Amelioration de la Viticulture) is the national agency of France responsible for the quality of wine grape varieities. Over 90% of all French Vineyards are started with ENTAV certified plants and are only recently available in California. Consequently, these are among the very first wines made from ENTAV grapes grown here.