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 soil was central to the character of great Burgundian Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and aware that plantable limestone is rare in California, Jensen returned to the United States and spent roughly two years scouting the state for a viable deposit. He found one on the slopes of Mount Harlan, a 3,278-foot peak in the Gabilan Mountains that divide Monterey and San Benito counties, and in 1974 purchased 324 acres there for $18,500. In 1975 he founded Calera, Spanish for 'limekiln,' living in a trailer on the remote, roadless property with his wife and her daughter while he cleared land and planted his 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 yielded Calera's first small crop in 1978, resulting in its debut vineyard-designate Pinot Noirs, which sold for $18 a bottle.

• Jensen 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, one of the state's rarest soil types, before finding it on Mount Harlan
• Purchased 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
• First three vineyards, Jensen, Selleck, and Reed, were planted in 1975 and produced 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 themselves sit as high as 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 notably cooler than the adjacent Cienega and Lime Kiln valleys, and harvest on Mount Harlan typically occurs two to four weeks later than in those valleys. Annual rainfall on the mountain, 35 to 40 inches, is more than double that of the valley floor. Mt. Harlan vineyards were certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers in 2008. A quirk of the appellation: Calera's winery itself sits in the Cienega Valley on Cienega Road, at a lower elevation than the AVA boundary, so the winery cannot use the term 'estate bottled' on its labels even though all its estate fruit comes from within Mount Harlan. In August 2022, the federal government established the much larger Gabilan Mountains AVA, covering roughly 98,000 acres across Monterey and San Benito counties, which sits entirely within the existing Central Coast AVA and entirely encompasses the Mount Harlan and Chalone AVAs; Calera's own materials now describe its estate as located 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 elevation; average annual temperature in the AVA is 56 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, well below neighboring valleys
• Mt. Harlan vineyards received CCOF certified organic status in 2008
• The Gabilan Mountains AVA, established August 2022 at roughly 98,000 acres, now entirely encompasses the Mount Harlan and Chalone AVAs

Calera's Mount Harlan estate comprises six individual Pinot Noir vineyards, each farmed and vinified separately. The founding three, planted in 1975, were Jensen (about 14 acres), Selleck (about 5 acres), and Reed. In 1982 Jensen purchased 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 was named de Villiers for author Marq de Villiers, whose 1993 book 'The Heartbreak Grape: A Journey in Search of the Perfect Pinot Noir' told the story of Calera's founding; the vineyard first appeared as a single-vineyard bottling with the 2007 vintage. The Ryan Vineyard, Calera's highest at 2,500 feet, is about 13.1 acres, planted in 1998 and 2001, and is named for Jim Ryan, Calera's vineyard manager since 1979. Beyond Pinot Noir, 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 small planting of less than half an acre 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 import Viognier vine material into California starting in 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 under half an acre in production, first grafted in 2004

In 1977 Jensen purchased a property on Cienega Road, at a lower elevation than the vineyards, that had been the site of a limestone rock-crushing plant abandoned for about 20 years. He built Calera's winery into the partially completed concrete terraces on the hillside, creating a seven-level gravity-flow structure that moves grapes and then wine downward by gravity rather than by pump, from the highest receiving level to the bottling line at the bottom. All fruit is hand-harvested. Winemaking is non-interventionist: fermentation relies on native yeasts, whole-cluster fermentation is used where possible, and wines are handled with 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, while 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 uses 25 to 30 percent new oak and ages 9 to 10 months on the lees after native-yeast fermentation and weekly stirring through natural malolactic fermentation, while Viognier ages about 8 months in neutral oak. The white wines are lightly fined with bentonite and given a light filtration; the red Pinot Noirs are bottled unfiltered. Mike Waller, hired by Jensen in 2007, is Calera's winemaker and continues to lead the winemaking program.

• Seven-level gravity-flow winery built in 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; Pinot Noir is bottled unfiltered
• Single-vineyard Pinot Noirs age 16 months in 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 red Pinot Noirs
• Mike Waller, hired by Josh Jensen in 2007, remains Calera's winemaker

Over four decades of independent operation, Calera earned a reputation as one of the most influential Pinot Noir producers in the Americas. The San Francisco Chronicle named Jensen its Winemaker of the Year in 2007. After a 2003 vertical tasting, Robert Parker called Calera 'California's Romanee-Conti' and described it as '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, Jensen was recognized as a 'Rockstar of Wine' at the World of Pinot Noir event. Jensen's story was told in 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 told the San Francisco Chronicle the sale reflected the lack of a family succession plan, since none of his three children wanted careers in wine. He joined Duckhorn's board of directors and stayed on to help with the transition for about a year and a half before moving to San Francisco, remaining a board member; winemaker Mike Waller and the rest of the Calera team stayed on. Duckhorn later 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 again. Josh Jensen died June 11, 2022, at his home in San Francisco, at age 78. He was survived by his three children and five grandchildren.

• Named San Francisco Chronicle Winemaker of the Year in 2007
• Robert Parker called Calera 'California's Romanee-Conti' after a 2003 vertical tasting; the winery 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
• Duckhorn's parent, The Duckhorn Portfolio, was acquired by private-equity firm Butterfly Equity in a roughly $1.95 billion deal completed in late 2024
• Josh Jensen died June 11, 2022, at age 78, survived by three children and five grandchildren
• 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 small-production Mount Harlan Viognier, all grown on the estate's limestone terroir at 2,200 to 2,500 feet elevation. These wines are widely regarded as among the closest in California to the Burgundian idiom: medium-bodied, naturally high in acidity, mineral-driven, and often reserved on release, with a drinking window commonly cited between five and twenty years after vintage. Beyond the estate, Calera also sources purchased fruit for a broader range of wines, including Central Coast Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Vin Gris of Pinot Noir, and a Cienega Valley Chenin Blanc, plus 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 ranging 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 elevation
• Purchased-fruit range includes Central Coast Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Vin Gris, and a Cienega Valley Chenin Blanc, plus 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)
• Estate Pinot Noirs are considered among California's closest expressions of the Burgundian idiom, with a cited 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 2026-09-14.