Featured News & Events
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Dine in De-Vine
08/11/2009
Dine amongst the vines and view vintage Ferraris at the Wine Estate' during August's classic car week
August 11-15, 2009
Reservations begin at 6:30pm
Effortlessly set tables will line the Wine Estate's plush Sangiovese vineyard Tuesday through Saturday evening for the first annual Dine in De-Vine, offering guests a new option for dining during the busy week. Chef Terry N. Teplizky has prepared an inviting, elegant pre-fix Basque menu, with choice of entrée and wine, to be served amongst the vines, followed by a dessert lounge and vintage car display at the Chateau. Evening highlights include Porsche, featuring the R Gruppe and the Early 911 S Registry, and Ferrari.
Dine in De-Vine menu selections begin at $47 per person. Seating is limited so please make your reservations early. For more information or to make a reservations please call the Wine Estate directly at (831)624-2600.
Recent Wine & Wine Estate Accolades - June 2009
06/01/2009
 | 2006 Black Nova - tastings.com, Beverage Testing Institute |
| 2008 Pinot Grigio - tastings.com, Beverage Testing Institute |
 | "it is a glorious joy to visit. The ambiaence of the winery meets the magnificent varieties of wines produced..." - Camille Bounds, Wine Country with a gentle attitude, April 24, 2009 |
 | Golden State Gleam Communities along the coast of Northern California set the state for sparkling events - Marlene Goldman, Meetings West, June 1, 2009 |
| "...grapevines surround the turreted, French manor=inspired tasting room at Chateau Julien, a grower acclaimed for its bordeaux-style wines, especially merlots." - Christopher Hall, Via Magazine, Carmel Valley, A lovely river runs trhough oaks, vineyards, and a tiny hum called the Village. |
 | Can't Miss - Wine Tasting "Highlight" - NCGA Golf Magazine, Spring 2009 |
 | 2006 Black Nova "a brilliant fusion of raspberries with an undercurrent of vanilla and is bursting with bright fruit flavors. This is a deep dark, luscious wine with just the right amount of oak." - Michael Cervin, The Art of the Blend, May 2009 |
Sustainable Agriculture
06/20/2009
by Winemaker Bill Anderson
The other day Kristin Horton (Chateau Julien’s Marketing Director) and I were discussing the issue of sustainability in agriculture and winemaking in general. Specifically, Kristin wanted to know what we do on the production side at Chateau Julien that would be considered ‘Sustainable Agriculture’.
The first thing that came to mind was a website I refer to whenever I have a question about sustainability: www.sarep.ucdavis.edu. It is an excellent resource from The University of California at Davis, and among many other things, answers the question “What is Sustainable Agriculture?” According to UC Davis, “Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals—environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity”. Then I told Kristin, though the concept of ‘sustainability’ seems to be appearing quite a bit in the media just recently, the sustainability we plan and implement at Chateau Julien has been evolving for years. And for me, two of the most important concepts of sustainability are: caring for the environment, and simply being a good neighbor.
There are enough areas of sustainability Chateau Julien has been developing over the years. But one of the areas we’ve been dealing with from the very beginning of the winery is the use of water. For years I’ve been reporting to the state the quantity and quality of the water we use. At one point in reporting I took a step back from the forms I was filling out and asked myself, “What’s really going on here in our use of water?” So, in my mind, just for a moment, I looked at our water usage in the winemaking process, and took a “global” view of what really goes in that process. What I saw was, in essence, we are borrowing water from the ground; then putting it back in the ground as soon as possible, in as close to the same conditional as when we started the cycle (as only a good steward of the environment would do). Specifically, we pump water out of our well to the wine cellar, where we wash tanks that have had only natural residual components of processed grapes. From the washed tanks, the water flows by gravity back in the direction of the well (from where it came) to the reclamation ponds. Once in the ponds, the water percolates down through gravel strata (being filtered along the way) back into the aquifer. The only loss of water is a small amount of evaporation as the water is used for washing purposes. As a side note, in our record keeping and laboratory analysis (by the State certified water analysis laboratory Bolsa Analytic Labs), it has been verified that the water is healthier (lower BOD, TDS, etc.) after it has gone through this natural use and filtration process.
We at Chateau Julien are proud of our record as stewards of the environment. There are many areas to explore in the field of sustainability, and our intention is to continue exploring so we can be that good neighbor we envision ourselves to be.
Some additional fun facts on sustainability at the Wine Estate:
*The Chai, barrel room, was constructed to utilize no artificial air conditioning. The building is one story into the ground and utilizes the earth’s constant temperature to keep the building at a constant 62 degrees.
* Our proximately to the hospitality and tourism community allows for minimum visitor travel and our “at winery” bus stop “Grapevine Express” promotes mass transit.
* Water is provided to the property via two avenues. Our primary water source is a high efficiency well that is sanitary sealed. In addition, we have irrigation well that is utilized for the vineyard operation. Both wells are metered for their water use. Since the year 2007 we have reduced our well water usage by 22% or 653,367 gallons, by utilizing better production practices. Our secondary water support is via a public water connection. Since this public water is in a serious overdraft situation, our use of our well water provides a community benefit by not increasing the overdraft of the public system.
* All wine glass used at the winery is sent for recycling. All paper products are separated and sent to the recycle center for further use, and our primary print partner is Green Certified. Plastic water bottles for daily consumption have been replaced by an in-house filtration system
* Process wastewater (a wine production byproduct) is controlled through an official CA State Water Board permit where it is discharged into on-site percolation ponds for evaporation or replenishment of the water table. The permit requirements are very stringent and require monitoring of the groundwater and ponds to prevent any derogation of the water supply.
* Our vineyard is managed pesticide-free, with controlled drip irrigation. Owl boxes have recently been added to the site to create a natural pest controlled environment.
*All heating and air systems are designed to automatically “shut off” in the evening and restart upon normal business hours. We utilize energy efficient light bulbs and LED bulbs.
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