Calera Wine Company

Josh Jensen (1944-2022) grew up in Orinda, California, where his father's friend, dentist and wine collector George Selleck, introduced him to fine Burgundy, including wines from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. Jensen graduated from Yale, where he rowed on the crew team, then earned a master's degree in anthropology at Oxford. While living in England in 1970 he traveled to Burgundy and worked a harvest and cellar job at Domaine de la Romanee-Conti; the following year he apprenticed at Domaine Dujac. Convinced that limestone was central to great Burgundian Pinot Noir, and aware that plantable limestone is rare in California, he spent roughly two years scouting the state for a viable deposit. He found one on Mount Harlan, a 3,278-foot peak in the Gabilan Mountains that divide Monterey and San Benito counties, and in 1974 bought 324 acres there for $18,500. In 1975 he founded Calera, Spanish for 'limekiln.' He lived in a trailer on the remote property, which had no paved road with his wife and her daughter while planting the first three vineyards: Jensen, named for his father Stephen Jensen; Selleck, named for George Selleck; and Reed, named for the family friend whose investment helped fund the purchase. Those vineyards gave their first small crop in 1978, Calera's debut vineyard-designate Pinot Noirs, priced at $18 a bottle.

• Worked a harvest and cellar job at Domaine de la Romanee-Conti in 1970, then apprenticed at Domaine Dujac the following year
• Spent about two years scouting California for plantable limestone, which is scarce in California, before finding it on Mount Harlan
• Bought 324 acres on Mount Harlan in 1974 for $18,500; founded Calera in 1975 and lived in a trailer on the property with no paved road, electricity, or phone
• The first three vineyards, Jensen, Selleck, and Reed, were planted in 1975 and gave Calera's debut Pinot Noirs from the 1978 harvest

Jensen petitioned the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to recognize Mount Harlan as its own American Viticultural Area, distinct from the surrounding Cienega and Lime Kiln valleys. The Mount Harlan AVA was established November 15, 1990, the 108th AVA in the United States, covering approximately 7,440 acres at elevations of 1,800 to 2,200 feet in the Gabilan Mountains. Calera's vineyard blocks sit at 2,200 to 2,500 feet and remain the only vineyards in the appellation. The AVA's average annual temperature of 56 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit is cooler than the adjacent Cienega and Lime Kiln valleys, and harvest on Mount Harlan typically comes two to four weeks later than in those valleys. Annual rainfall on the mountain, 35 to 40 inches, is more than double the valley floor's. The Mt. Harlan vineyards were certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers in 2008. The winery itself, on Cienega Road, sits outside the AVA, so Calera cannot use the term 'estate bottled' on its labels even though all its estate fruit comes from within Mount Harlan. In August 2022, the much larger Gabilan Mountains AVA was established, covering roughly 98,000 acres across Monterey and San Benito counties; it sits entirely within the Central Coast AVA and entirely encompasses the Mount Harlan and Chalone AVAs. Calera's estate lies within the Gabilan Mountains AVA.

• Mount Harlan AVA established November 15, 1990, covering about 7,440 acres, with Calera as the only winery
• Vineyards sit at 2,200 to 2,500 feet; the AVA's average annual temperature of 56 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit is cooler than the neighboring valleys
• The Mt. Harlan vineyards gained CCOF certified organic status in 2008
• The Gabilan Mountains AVA, established August 2022 at roughly 98,000 acres, entirely encompasses the Mount Harlan and Chalone AVAs

Calera's Mount Harlan estate comprises six Pinot Noir vineyards. The founding three, planted in 1975, are Jensen (about 14 acres), Selleck (about 5 acres), and Reed. In 1982 Jensen bought an adjacent 300 acres of limestone-bearing land, and in 1984 he planted 6 acres of Chardonnay alongside a 14.4-acre Pinot Noir parcel named Mills, after John Everett Mills, whose earlier stonework on the Cienega Road property later became part of Calera's winery. A roughly 15.6-acre parcel planted in 1997 between the Jensen and Mills vineyards is named de Villiers for author Marq de Villiers, whose 1993 book 'The Heartbreak Grape: A Journey in Search of the Perfect Pinot Noir' tells the story of Calera's founding; it first appeared as a single-vineyard bottling with the 2007 vintage. The Ryan Vineyard, Calera's highest at 2,500 feet, covers about 13.1 acres planted in 1998 and 2001 and is named for Jim Ryan, Calera's vineyard manager since 1979. The estate also grows Chardonnay and Viognier. Calera worked with the Foundation Plant Materials Service to bring Viognier vine material into California beginning in 1973, and planted Viognier on the estate in 1983, among the first plantings of the variety in the state. Calera is also one of California's original producers of Aligote, with a half-acre parcel first grafted in 2004.

• Six estate Pinot Noir vineyards: Jensen, Selleck, and Reed (1975), Mills (1984), de Villiers (1997, first single-vineyard bottling 2007), and Ryan (1998 and 2001)
• Calera worked with the Foundation Plant Materials Service to bring Viognier vine material into California from 1973, and planted Viognier on the Mount Harlan estate in 1983
• Mills Vineyard is named for John Everett Mills, whose earlier stone infrastructure on the winery property became part of Calera's gravity-flow winery
• Calera is one of California's original producers of Aligote, with a half-acre parcel in production, first grafted in 2004

In 1977 Jensen bought a property on Cienega Road where a limestone rock-crushing plant had stood abandoned for about 20 years. He built Calera's winery into the partially completed concrete terraces on the hillside, a seven-level gravity-flow structure that moves grapes and then wine downward by gravity rather than by pump, from the receiving level at the top to the bottling line at the bottom. All fruit is hand-harvested. Winemaking is non-interventionist: native yeasts, whole-cluster fermentation where possible, and minimal racking. Pinot Noir ferments in open-top fermenters at around 90 degrees Fahrenheit with punch-downs for color extraction, and lots are pressed after a minimum 14-day maceration. Single-vineyard Pinot Noirs age 16 months in 60-gallon barrels with about 30 percent new French oak; the Central Coast tier sees 12 to 15 percent new oak over 10 to 11 months. White grapes are pressed whole-cluster. Mount Harlan Chardonnay gets 25 to 30 percent new oak and ages 9 to 10 months on the lees after native-yeast fermentation, with weekly stirring until natural malolactic fermentation is complete; Viognier ages about 8 months in neutral oak. The whites are lightly fined with bentonite and lightly filtered; the single-vineyard Pinot Noirs are bottled unfiltered. Mike Waller, hired by Jensen in 2007, is Calera's winemaker and leads the winemaking program.

• Seven-level gravity-flow winery built from 1977 into the concrete terraces of a former rock-crushing plant on Cienega Road
• Native-yeast fermentation, whole-cluster Pinot Noir where possible, and minimal racking; single-vineyard Pinot Noirs are bottled unfiltered
• Single-vineyard Pinot Noirs age 16 months with about 30 percent new French oak; the Central Coast tier uses 12 to 15 percent new oak over 10 to 11 months
• White wines are lightly fined with bentonite and lightly filtered, unlike the unfiltered single-vineyard Pinot Noirs
• Mike Waller, hired by Josh Jensen in 2007, remains Calera's winemaker

Calera's wines won global acclaim and helped refute the then-widespread view that California could not produce great Pinot Noir. The San Francisco Chronicle named Jensen its Winemaker of the Year in 2007. Robert Parker called Calera 'California's Romanee-Conti' and 'one of the most compelling Pinot Noir specialists of not only the New World, but of Planet Earth.' By 2022, Calera had made its tenth appearance on Wine & Spirits magazine's Top 100 Wineries in the World list. In 2016, the World of Pinot Noir event recognized Jensen as a 'Rock Star of Wine.' Jensen's story is the subject of Marq de Villiers' 1993 book 'The Heartbreak Grape,' revised and updated in 2006. In August 2017, Jensen sold Calera to Napa-based Duckhorn Wine Company; the deal included the winery, tasting room, brand, inventory, and 85 acres of estate vineyards in the Mount Harlan AVA. Jensen had no family succession plan, since none of his three children wanted careers in wine. He joined Duckhorn's board of directors and stayed on for about a year and a half to help with the transition before moving to San Francisco, while remaining on Calera's board; winemaker Mike Waller and other key staff stayed on. Duckhorn completed an initial public offering in 2021 as The Duckhorn Portfolio (NYSE: NAPA). In October 2024, private-equity firm Butterfly Equity agreed to acquire The Duckhorn Portfolio, including Calera, in an all-cash deal valuing the company at approximately $1.95 billion; the acquisition closed before the end of 2024, taking Duckhorn's parent company private. Jensen died in 2022.

• The San Francisco Chronicle named Jensen its Winemaker of the Year in 2007
• Robert Parker called Calera 'California's Romanee-Conti'; Calera made its tenth appearance on Wine & Spirits' Top 100 Wineries in the World list by 2022
• Sold to Duckhorn Wine Company in August 2017, including 85 acres of Mt. Harlan estate vineyards; Jensen joined Duckhorn's board
• Butterfly Equity completed its roughly $1.95 billion acquisition of Duckhorn's parent, The Duckhorn Portfolio, in late 2024
• Josh Jensen (1944-2022)
• Calera's story is told in Marq de Villiers' book 'The Heartbreak Grape,' first published in 1993 and revised in 2006

Calera's estate program centers on six single-vineyard Mount Harlan Pinot Noirs, a Mount Harlan Chardonnay, and a Mount Harlan Viognier, all grown on the estate's limestone at 2,200 to 2,500 feet. Prince of Pinot calls the Calera Pinot Noirs probably the closest to the Burgundian idiom of all Pinot Noirs in California, shy and reticent on release, with the best drinking window between five and twenty years after the vintage. The wines are medium-bodied, naturally high in acidity, and mineral-driven. Beyond the estate, Calera makes Central Coast Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from purchased fruit, along with a Vin Gris of Pinot Noir, a Cienega Valley Chenin Blanc, and single-vineyard bottlings from Eden Rift Vineyard (Cienega Valley Chardonnay), Chalone Vineyard (Monterey County Pinot Noir), Muns Vineyard (Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir), and Sanford and Benedict Vineyard (Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir). The winery and tasting room are open Thursday through Monday at 11300 Cienega Road in Hollister, California, with seated tastings from about $30 to $95 per person.

• Estate tier: six single-vineyard Mt. Harlan Pinot Noirs, plus Mt. Harlan Chardonnay and Viognier, all from 2,200 to 2,500 feet
• Beyond the estate: Central Coast Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from purchased fruit, plus Vin Gris, a Cienega Valley Chenin Blanc, and single-vineyard wines from Eden Rift (Cienega Valley Chardonnay), Chalone (Monterey County Pinot Noir), Muns (Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir), and Sanford and Benedict (Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir)
• Prince of Pinot ranks the Calera Pinot Noirs among California's closest to the Burgundian idiom, with a best drinking window of five to twenty years
• Tasting room at 11300 Cienega Road, Hollister, open Thursday through Monday; seated tastings run about $30 to $95 per person

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.calerawine.com/, https://www.calerawine.com/pages/about-us, https://www.calerawine.com/pages/josh-jensen, https://www.calerawine.com/pages/winemaking, https://www.calerawine.com/pages/vineyards, https://www.calerawine.com/pages/discover-san-benito, https://www.calerawine.com/pages/tours-and-tastings, https://www.calerawine.com/collections/all. Secondary sources: San Francisco Chronicle (Josh Jensen obituary, June 2022; Duckhorn/Butterfly Equity acquisition, October 2024), The Drinks Business (Duckhorn acquisition, August 2017), Decanter (Duckhorn acquisition, August 2017), Food Processing (Butterfly Equity acquisition completion, January 2025), Federal Register (establishment of the Gabilan Mountains AVA, August 2022), Wikipedia (Mt. Harlan AVA, citing the 1990 Federal Register final rule), BenitoLink (Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries, 2022), PrinceofPinot.com and The Underground Wine Letter (vineyard planting history and acreage), Please the Palate (Ryan Vineyard and World of Pinot Noir recognition). Where Calera's own marketing timeline conflicted with its own founder-history page on early vintage dates and case counts, the more detailed founder-history narrative and independently corroborated secondary sources were used; see conflicts.json. Last verified 2026-10-12.