Alfaro Family Vineyards & Winery

Artisanal bread-baker turned winemaker Richard Alfaro enjoys the fruits of his labor. After a long and satisfying career as the founder of a restaurant and the wholesale baking company known under his own name – Alfaro’s Micro Bakery – Richard shifted gears in 1997, acquiring an aging 75 acre apple farm south of Santa Cruz in Corralitos, California, which he and wife Mary Kay (a certified sommelier) subsequently transformed into Alfaro Family Vineyards & Winery.

The Alfaro Family Vineyards wine label, based on an original painting by noted Santa Cruz artist Laurie Zeszut features the entire Alfaro Family in a harvest scene. The Alfaro children (and vineyard namesakes) Lindsay Paige and Ryan Spencer frequently help out Mom and Dad.

The vineyards are located at the southern end of the Santa Cruz mountains region. This area benefits from the cooling influence of the nearby Monterey Bay. That gives the grapes a longer maturing period and leads to high quality wines. This is a great stop if you are on a weekend tour of the Santa Cruz mountains.

Here is a description of a few of the vineyards on the property.

Lindsay Paige Vineyard is named after the Alfaro’s daughter. Planted in 1998, the vineyard covers a little more than 7 acres on a north west facing hillside between 550 and 650 feet elevation. The lower portion of the vineyard is planted with two and a half acres of own rooted Wente clone Chardonnay and one acre of the “Muscat” clone of Chardonnay (CH 809). The upper portion is planted to Pinot Noir. This high density planting (almost 2000 vines per acre) consists of clones 113, 114, 115, 667, 777, 828, 359, 475, Pommard 4 and Pommard 5.

Alfaro Family Vineyard is our largest vineyard at just over 14 acres and was planted in 1999. It is Pinot Noir, consisting of 9 different blocks; each block has a different combination of clones and rootstock, including clones 113, 114, 115, 667, 777and 828. Vine density is 1361 vines per acre. The vineyard is on a south facing hillside between 500 and 650 feet in elevation.