Victorian Romance is in the Air
BY ART GARCIA
Click image to view
As you’d expect, wines are the primary business of Berghold Estate Winery off east Highway 12 in Lodi, but wines aren’t the only products sold, and the winery is not just a winery. It is rich in American Victorian history, and includes one of the largest collections of fine American Victorian Antiques in the county.
The 3,000-square-foot tasting room features a 27-foot mahogany bar discovered and saved from a saloon in Pennsylvania, as well as a boutique section of designer gifts.
Adjoining it is a similar-sized barrel room, which houses mostly dessert wines and ports. The sunshine glistens through stained glass windows, highlighting the antique armoires converted into wine vaults and cigar humidors. A 25-foot full bar of similar origin to the one in the main tasting room is joined by Big Bertha, a 12-foot-tall, 8-feet-wide music box, and a major attraction at the winery.
Made by a craftsman in Modesto, the music box cranks out a constant flow made by the sounds of 22 instruments, from banjos and xylophones to steel drums and accordions. In all, it has a musical repertoire of about 600 songs, and it has become a major draw for the winery.
“It’s great entertainment for our visitors. They love it,” says Julia Vogels, who handles all the non-wine merchandise sales. She is quickly learning the basics of the wine business, and is the fiancée of Miles Berghold, the winemaker and son of owners Joe and Kay Berghold. Miles is currently earning his master’s degree in enology at California State University, Fresno.
Before acquiring the vineyards in 1986 and making his first commercial wine in 1999, Joe Berghold worked in the corporate world with a railroad that also owned a major theme park. “When my father got the concept of building a winery with a tasting room, he wanted people to have an experience, not only visual and sensory through the wine, but with an entertainment factor.” Miles says. The tasting room opened in May of 1995.
Besides wine and accessories, the Berghold shops – which Julia insists are of the boutique variety and “not a residue of mundane ideas” – carry cigars, men’s shirts (without winery monograms), ties, aluminum products, hand-made Italian potteries, women’s accessories, a fashion line of purses and limited production pieces.
The American Victorian antique armoires are especially unique. Designed as wine coolers, they are wired for electricity. Each piece is customized, some serving as humidors or a combination wine cooler and humidor. These armoires can also serve as a home entertainment center.
Armoire prices range from $25,000 to $100,000 each. Julia said Joe Berghold is the largest private armoire dealer in California. No, the armoires destined to become wine coolers do not come stocked with wine, but one model holds about 600 bottles and smaller units stock 200 to 400 bottles.
The Berghold Winery draws a high rate of return visitors, mostly by word-of-mouth, since advertising is limited. Neither does the winery boast blue ribbons or gold stars on its walls for its wines, since it does not enter its wines into the California State Fair or other wine competitions.
Still, Vigels noted, “We need to get a name as a winery first. Once people know us, then that’s when the gift boutique will gain awareness. Bring them in to discover the Berghold lines of merlot, Cabernet sauvignon, zinfandels and sirahs, and they’ll also discover the wonderful boutique and the beautiful grounds of Berghold Winery.”
Berghold Estate Winery
209-333-9291
www.bergholdvineyards.com
The 3,000-square-foot tasting room features a 27-foot mahogany bar discovered and saved from a saloon in Pennsylvania, as well as a boutique section of designer gifts.
Adjoining it is a similar-sized barrel room, which houses mostly dessert wines and ports. The sunshine glistens through stained glass windows, highlighting the antique armoires converted into wine vaults and cigar humidors. A 25-foot full bar of similar origin to the one in the main tasting room is joined by Big Bertha, a 12-foot-tall, 8-feet-wide music box, and a major attraction at the winery.
Made by a craftsman in Modesto, the music box cranks out a constant flow made by the sounds of 22 instruments, from banjos and xylophones to steel drums and accordions. In all, it has a musical repertoire of about 600 songs, and it has become a major draw for the winery.
“It’s great entertainment for our visitors. They love it,” says Julia Vogels, who handles all the non-wine merchandise sales. She is quickly learning the basics of the wine business, and is the fiancée of Miles Berghold, the winemaker and son of owners Joe and Kay Berghold. Miles is currently earning his master’s degree in enology at California State University, Fresno.
Before acquiring the vineyards in 1986 and making his first commercial wine in 1999, Joe Berghold worked in the corporate world with a railroad that also owned a major theme park. “When my father got the concept of building a winery with a tasting room, he wanted people to have an experience, not only visual and sensory through the wine, but with an entertainment factor.” Miles says. The tasting room opened in May of 1995.
Besides wine and accessories, the Berghold shops – which Julia insists are of the boutique variety and “not a residue of mundane ideas” – carry cigars, men’s shirts (without winery monograms), ties, aluminum products, hand-made Italian potteries, women’s accessories, a fashion line of purses and limited production pieces.
The American Victorian antique armoires are especially unique. Designed as wine coolers, they are wired for electricity. Each piece is customized, some serving as humidors or a combination wine cooler and humidor. These armoires can also serve as a home entertainment center.
Armoire prices range from $25,000 to $100,000 each. Julia said Joe Berghold is the largest private armoire dealer in California. No, the armoires destined to become wine coolers do not come stocked with wine, but one model holds about 600 bottles and smaller units stock 200 to 400 bottles.
The Berghold Winery draws a high rate of return visitors, mostly by word-of-mouth, since advertising is limited. Neither does the winery boast blue ribbons or gold stars on its walls for its wines, since it does not enter its wines into the California State Fair or other wine competitions.
Still, Vigels noted, “We need to get a name as a winery first. Once people know us, then that’s when the gift boutique will gain awareness. Bring them in to discover the Berghold lines of merlot, Cabernet sauvignon, zinfandels and sirahs, and they’ll also discover the wonderful boutique and the beautiful grounds of Berghold Winery.”
Berghold Estate Winery
209-333-9291
www.bergholdvineyards.com