Written by
Lisa Crawford Watson
During
the 1940s and 50s, a young man worked the land alongside his father
and pondered the possibilities that lay on the horizon of the
fertile South Dakota soil. In the year 2000, that man, Jerry Lohr,
sold 600,000 cases of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah Merlot,
Riesling and Valdiguie from grapes grown in the composite soil
of Paso Robles and Monterey. This is the story of a boy who climbed
over the rainbow to plant gold in the California slopes but who
never forgot his roots.
Jerry Lohr in the Vineyard
Jerry
drives a Jeep - partly because he likes it and largely because
he doesn't want to drive what most everyone else can't drive.
The belief in "something for everyone" that guides his life and
his business likely stems from growing up on a family farm in
a place where the land is richer than the economy and the only
thing more important then the yield is one's family.
Jerry
may not need a fancy car, but he gets pretty excited about the
ride on his "400 horse" tractor while getting up close and personal
with Paso Robles vineyards.
J.
Lohr Winery, San Jose |
"Lohr
Winery has given me the chance to follow an agricultural passion
and to come full circle to my roots, said Jerry. " I love
farming, being out in the open. Some of my favorite times
last year were the six to eight weekends I spent on my tractor.
On that 200 acres, I know the soil intimately." |
By
now, he also has intimate knowledge of the wine industry. It was
during the late '60s that the civil engineer and real estate developer,
inspired by the intellectual changer of wine making, began an
investigation of grape-growing regions, which culminated in the
California Central Coast. "
|
Jerry's
very much a hands-on owner when it comes to the vineyards,"
said winemaker Jeff Meier, who joined J. Lohr winery in
1984. "This is important because the wine is the grape.
The happier the grape, the better the wine."
In
1972 and 1973 he planted 281 acres of wine grapes in Greenfield
Vineyards in Monterey County, followed by the 1974 opening
of his namesake winery in San Jose. With Cabernet and other
red varietals in mind, he purchased land near Paso Robles
in 1988, which now covers more than 1600 acres. He also
expanded his Greenfield Vineyard to encompass more than
900 acres of Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Valdiguie.
|
Jeff Meier, J. Lohr winemaker |
Yet
tilling the soils is one way Jerry Lohr reaps harvest from the
land.
Jerry
was only 28 years old when he partnered with another fellow to
start their own company, "Saratoga Foothills Development Company,"
and began building homes. It was 1965. Nearly 900 homes and some
50 subdivisions later, Jerry has developed the skill and the reputation
for highly personalized service in the design of quality products
-not unlike the wine business, toward which he has begun to shift
his attentions.
In
fact , the 78-acre Macomber Estates development of 20 exceptional
lots above 17 mile drive in Pebble Beach will be his final contribution
to quality homes in quality places.
"As
a builder," he said, "I operate a little like a surgeon - one
patient at a time. I can expand the building business the way
I can in wine. Otherwise, the two endeavors are very similar.
You begin by selecting the right locations and then what you do
in that location is exceedingly important. Both involve a three
to five or five to seven-year process from the time you choose
the location until you grow whatever it will be, whether it is
houses or wine. And in each, the more you learn the better you
become."
Learning
has been a life-long endeavor for the Rhodes Scholar candidate
who graduated from South Dakota State University in 1958 and then
earned a Master's Degree in civil engineering from Stanford University,
where he also began a Ph. D. program . He eventually received
an honorary doctorate from South Dakota State.
Jerry
certainly had the opportunity to define success in many different
terms along the way. Yet his greatest pride and priority is his
family.
One week after arriving at Stanford, he met Carol, his wife of
now 42 years. The two share three children, Steve, Cynthia and
Lawrence. Although each is actively involved in his or her own
endeavors, Jerry is leaving the door open to the winery.
A
J. Lohr hilltop vineyard |
"We
think our children will be involved in the business," he said,
"but we don't know how or to what extent. Carol and I feel
strongly that each should do what they enjoy and what brings
them fulfillment. So far, they just seem to be planning their
weddings in the vineyards." |
Jerry's
philosophy of fulfillment extends beyond the family and into the
business of nearly 300 J. Lohr employees. It is a concept he sums
up in one word: sharing - the wine, the challenges, the successes
and the celebrations. And, it involves a generous array of bonuses
and opportunities.
"This
business has given me a chance to express a number of deeply held
traditions through both the product and the relations with a lot
of people," he said. "We can talk about the soil and the clones,
but people are the more important part of this business. There
is an art to working with people that can't be quantified. I respect
everyone equally and try to create for each person the opportunity
to fulfill whatever dreams they have. This is a shared adventure."
With
enough land to continue producing wines to exceptional depth and
complexity, Jerry Lohr seems well on his way toward his everlasting
goals of "consistency in style, quality and value." Yet if you
ask the 64-year-old owner/ president of J. Lohr how he would like
to be remembered, it is in his answer that we find his deepest
value: "He was kind to all people."
A
courtesy of Central Coast Adventure Magazine
Issue of Spring 2001
