The Tasting Panel magazine

WINE NEWS HERZOG WINE CELLARS PUTS A FOCUS ON THE FUTURE Joseph and David Herzog. Where Optimism Meets Realism C Herzog has been produc- ing wine in California since 1985. A new winery facility in Oxnard, California, opened in 2005 and also houses their Tierra Sur restaurant. an you be both an optimist and a real- ist? You can if you are sixth-generation winery owner David Herzog. While Oxnard, CA–based Herzog Wine Cellars is a long-standing leader in the kosher wine mar- ket, Herzog affi rms the best way to break out of a niche is with a laser-sharp focus that can cut through anything, from outdated biases to the economy and environmental concerns. Nephew Joseph Herzog, VP of Operations, stresses that the best way to create a new reality is to make the current one as stellar as possible. Over the last two decades, the goal has gone beyond making the highest qual- ity wines possible to upgrading everything involved in the process—from improvements in the vineyards, to fi nding the best machines, barrels and capable winemaker to ensure quality from start to fi nish. The Herzogs are particularly excited about the single-vineyard wines. Every year, winemaker Joe Hurliman engages in exhaustive travel to appellations such as Chalk Hill, Mount Veeder and Santa Rita Hills and signifi cant vineyards like Trestle Glen to sample and select grapes for production. He also monitors the smart environmental practices of his favorite growers. "Herzog was one of the fi rst wineries to get permission to note on our labels that the grapes used are green-certifi ed by Lodi 20 / the tasting panel / january/february 2012 story and photos by Elyse Glickman Rules," details Hurliman. "Several of our long- term growers have adjusted their farming practices, the way they tend the vineyards, moving toward sustainable growing pro- grams and other things related to Lodi Rules, which set the standards for the ways wineries are going green." "Here in California, we are working with local companies to help lower our overall carbon footprint in a number of different areas at our winery," adds Joseph Herzog, "and we will be installing 160,000 square feet of solar panels, one of the industry's largest solar power systems, in our Bayonne, NJ warehouse." David Herzog muses that although the challenges they face are happy ones, and the expanded customer base includes beverage buyers for top restaurants from coast to coast, the winery's long-term growth needs to be done with a slow, steady hand. "We will not sacrifi ce quality, resources or people to be the next big thing," he says. "Our goal is to perhaps be 40 to 50 percent larger than we currently are in the next fi ve years or so, and a lot we've purchased next door is set aside for expansion. As we continue to practice the winemaking traditions past generations of our family started, we are also constantly trying to exceed expectations in the industry—and with wine lovers at their favorite restaurants and in their homes."

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