A Gold Medal Winner in Ripon
BY MICHELLE MACHADO
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McManis Family Vineyards’ story is one of growth. Since the company’s founding two decades ago, McManis’ vineyard acreage, grape varieties, winery operation, case production, distribution footprint and partnerships have all burgeoned.
Today, McManis vineyards cover more than 2,500 acres in Ripon and Lodi, and its winery boasts a tank capacity of 5 million gallons and annual production of more than 300,000 cases. Its nine varietals have international distribution. Ron McManis – a fourth-generation family farmer – and Jamie McManis became marriage partners in 1986 and business partners in 1990, when they purchased 350 acres of Ripon vineyard. During the next few years, a handful of local wineries bought their grape crop.
But the McManises were dissatisfied with simply finding a market for their fruit.
“We were one of the growers working to prove that the interior (of California) could grow good quality wines,” Ron McManis said. So, in 1995 the couple delivered two truckloads of grapes to a winery on the state’s north coast. The resulting high-quality wine became the springboard that launched McManis into partnerships with several costal wineries, with McManis producing wines to their specifications.
After the 1997 harvest, the McManises built a state-of-the-art winery to maximize wine quality through small lot handling, whole cluster pressing and barrel storage and fermentation. Winemakers Jeff Runquist and Mike Robustelli bring over 40 years of winemaking to that process. Chardonnay, cabernet and merlot serve as the backbone of McManis’ varietals.
“At the end of the day, people still like vanilla, chocolate and strawberry,” McManis said. Still, the winery has added a little flesh – viognier and petite sirah, among other varietals – to round out its body of offerings. “You have to stay focused, but you also have to explore new territory,” McManis said.
McManis distribution covers a lot of territory: every state except Alaska, and countries that include Germany, the Netherlands and Taiwan. Locally, the brand is carried by grocers such as SaveMart, O’Brien’s and Safeway, retailers including BevMo! and Costco, and Ripon’s Canal Street Grille and Barnwood Restaurant.
Barnwood owner John Mangelos is a promoter of the McManis brand. “These are wines that are easily appreciated,” he said. “You don’t have to be a wine geek to enjoy what they do.”
The brand has earned numerous awards, including a gold medal at the 2010 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for its 2008 McManis Chardonnay and a silver for its 2008 McManis Petite Sirah.
The one place wine aficionados will not find the brand is in a McManis tasting room.
“It’s not on our drawing board, but our drawing board has changed pretty quickly,” McManis said, leaving room for the possibility of still further expansion.
Today, McManis vineyards cover more than 2,500 acres in Ripon and Lodi, and its winery boasts a tank capacity of 5 million gallons and annual production of more than 300,000 cases. Its nine varietals have international distribution. Ron McManis – a fourth-generation family farmer – and Jamie McManis became marriage partners in 1986 and business partners in 1990, when they purchased 350 acres of Ripon vineyard. During the next few years, a handful of local wineries bought their grape crop.
But the McManises were dissatisfied with simply finding a market for their fruit.
“We were one of the growers working to prove that the interior (of California) could grow good quality wines,” Ron McManis said. So, in 1995 the couple delivered two truckloads of grapes to a winery on the state’s north coast. The resulting high-quality wine became the springboard that launched McManis into partnerships with several costal wineries, with McManis producing wines to their specifications.
After the 1997 harvest, the McManises built a state-of-the-art winery to maximize wine quality through small lot handling, whole cluster pressing and barrel storage and fermentation. Winemakers Jeff Runquist and Mike Robustelli bring over 40 years of winemaking to that process. Chardonnay, cabernet and merlot serve as the backbone of McManis’ varietals.
“At the end of the day, people still like vanilla, chocolate and strawberry,” McManis said. Still, the winery has added a little flesh – viognier and petite sirah, among other varietals – to round out its body of offerings. “You have to stay focused, but you also have to explore new territory,” McManis said.
McManis distribution covers a lot of territory: every state except Alaska, and countries that include Germany, the Netherlands and Taiwan. Locally, the brand is carried by grocers such as SaveMart, O’Brien’s and Safeway, retailers including BevMo! and Costco, and Ripon’s Canal Street Grille and Barnwood Restaurant.
Barnwood owner John Mangelos is a promoter of the McManis brand. “These are wines that are easily appreciated,” he said. “You don’t have to be a wine geek to enjoy what they do.”
The brand has earned numerous awards, including a gold medal at the 2010 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for its 2008 McManis Chardonnay and a silver for its 2008 McManis Petite Sirah.
The one place wine aficionados will not find the brand is in a McManis tasting room.
“It’s not on our drawing board, but our drawing board has changed pretty quickly,” McManis said, leaving room for the possibility of still further expansion.