The Transformation of a Historic Horse Barn to a State-Of-The-Art Winery
Originally built as a horse barn in 1999 with a collective car garage, the winery building has been transformed into a state-of-the-art facility, purposefully designed to accommodate the demands of the vineyard and the high standard to which the wines from Crown Point are held.
“Since the beginning I knew we would become a pioneer of this growing region called Happy Canyon” says Proprietor, Roger Bower.
The large barrel room was originally built as a horse barn in 1999 with a paddock behind. This fenced in area was a holding spot for the estate horses and a place to saddle up before an enchanting ride through the 25 acres of estate vines. Prior to Roger purchasing the estate in 2012, the land was planted to a wide variety of grapes including Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Petit Syrah, Merlot, Malbec, Syrah, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, and Viognier. Today the estate is 104 acres specifically focused on growing Bordeaux varieties, with 50 acres planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot and one unique block of Sauvignon Blanc.
The building construction, renovation, and remodel was commenced in the Spring of 2013. This remodel ushered in a new era for Crown Point, and by Fall of 2013, the first building was transformed into a state-of-the-art winemaking facility which could now cellar over 500 new French oak barrels in a pristine temperature controlled atmosphere.
The adjacent space fulfilled Roger’s vision with a purposefully designed winery to accommodate the demands of the vineyard. Our custom oak fermentation tanks were delivered from Burgundy by a small cooper named Frederic Rousseau. The placement of the tanks below the hillside ground level allows us to fill the temperature controlled tanks by gravity, and with large openings on top we are able to do punch downs as well as pump overs during the fermentation process.
During the time Roger was working on the winery concrete tanks had begun to be rediscovered by winemakers in California and had been used for many years in Europe. These vessels have superior engineering with an embedded glycol tube system surrounding the tank that gives us precise temperature control with no tubes, which allows us to produce wines with an unbelievably smooth mouth feel with vibrant fruit flavors.
“This porous way to make wines truly changed my view of how to craft very distinctive estate-driven wines” says Proprietor, Roger Bower.
In Winter of 2013 Crown Point received our concrete tanks to further the development of the state-of-the-art-winery and to fulfill our commitment to make world class wines.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE SMALL BARREL ROOM AND TASTING PARLOR
The grand remodel, the next phase was to transform the collective car garage with the long term goal to barrel age individual wine components for one year, blended components for a second year, and the bottled wine a temperature controlled cellar for another year.
Since the beginning Roger always envisioned having a space to host members for a unique private tasting experience similar to what you would expect at the highest caliber estates in Napa. This idea would be incorporated into the transformation of the collective car garage. The majority of the garage space would be remodeled to store our second year barrels and elegant glass barn doors would be selected to separate the temperature controlled environment from our tasting room where our members would swirl and sip while sharing the views of our next vintage.
“As a wine collector, and someone who appreciates special tasting experiences, I always felt there was never enough time spent with the barrels and I really wanted to create an authentic experience that reminds members why these wines exist” says Proprietor, Roger Bower.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE BACK OF THE WINERY
In the Summer of 2019 we transformed the back of the winery to accommodate six stainless steel fermentation tanks allowing us to showcase three very different types of fermentation tanks. Each blend starting with the 2019 vintage is essentially the combined personality of our Oak, Concrete and Stainless steel tanks.
“Our commitment to this land is unwavering, as is our goal of making the best wine possible from Crown Point. As our vineyard grows, so will we, with a promise to showcase this special site through profound wines with a true sense of place” says Proprietor, Roger Bower.
In November of 2016 we officially released our first two wines with the 2013 vintage; a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon as well as Bordeaux style blend, both sourced exclusively from our estate. At the same time we cut the ribbon and opened our doors for a one-of-a-kind authentic tasting experience and today we continue to find ways to elevate our experiences at Crown Point.
For Crown Point, the sky is the limit and each new growing season when the vines awaken we are reminded the best is yet to come with winemakers Simon Faury, Philippe Melka, and Michel Rolland.
