Wagner Family of Wine Blog

It was in the Fall of 1971 when my parents (Charlie Wagner & Lorna Belle Glos Wagner) pulled me aside to have a very serious talk – I was 19 at the time. They sat me down and made me an offer to join them in starting a small commercial winery. If it was decided to NOT start the winery, they would sell their land and move to Australia. My dad loved wine and was a home winemaker for most of his life. Our neighbors had been encouraging him to get into the commercial side of the business and now he was ready to take the next step. When I was 19 I had no idea of where we would end up or if we would have success in the wine business. In 1972 we started Caymus Vineyards.

Looking back I think it’s truly an amazing journey we’ve had. When we started the winery my father was 60 and my mother was 57. I think about this a lot… my parents risking their life savings to get into the wine business. There’s a lot more to our story and today I’m happy to share with you this video that celebrates the last 40 years. We continue to practice my father’s innovative farming and winemaking style and I think he would be very proud to see how far his grandkids: Joseph, Charlie, Jenny and Erin have come. Thank you for enjoying our family wines and we look forward to many generations of farmers and winemakers.

~ Chuck Wagner, Caymus Vineyards owner & winemaker

Click below to watch our video.

What does farming mean to you? At Wagner Family of Wine, we are farmers at heart and believe that quality starts in the vineyard. It’s a big part of our tradition that has been passed down for five generations. Making wines of consistent quality year after year is no easy task. It all starts in the vineyard with patience and innovative farming practices. Here’s a video that demonstrates how we apply our viticultural practices from pruning to harvest for Caymus Vineyards and our other wines that complete the line-up in Wagner Family of Wine: Conundrum, Belle Glos, Meiomi and Mer Soleil. Did you learn something new from watching this video?

~ Joseph Wagner, Belle Glos & Meiomi Winemaker

Here’s a fun recipe that a fan posted on our official Mer Soleil Vineyard website.  A colorful and delicious pairing that includes pears, walnuts, and blue cheese – yum!  Our fan paired this appetizer with our Silver Chardonnay which is an unoaked wine produced in cement tanks.   Aging and fermenting this wine in cement tanks accentuates the minerality and brings out the tropical flavors that come from our Santa Lucia Highlands fruit.  We hope you enjoy this food and wine pairing. ~ Charlie Wagner II, winemaker.

Ingredients

* 4 pears, halved, but not peeled or cored
* Extra-virgin olive oil
* 1/4 bunch fresh thyme
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup crumbled good-quality blue cheese
* 1/4 cup walnut pieces

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Pour yourself a chilled glass of Mer Soleil Silver.  Keep the wine chilled at about 40-55 degrees.

Arrange the pears, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Strip the leaves from the thyme branches and sprinkle over the pears. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake 20 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and spoon a generous teaspoon of crumbled cheese in the center of each pear half, return the pears to the oven and roast until they are tender and the cheese is soft, about 10 more minutes.

Meanwhile, put the walnuts on another baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden brown and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Chop. When the pears are cooked, transfer them to a serving plate and sprinkle the toasted walnuts over the top. Serve hot.