Wornick showcases a full load of fruit ready to head to the winery for de-stemming and crushing. (La Honda Winery)A Story of Distinction - La Honda Winery’s Ken Wornick Shepherds Prestigious San Francisco Peninsula Vineyards

By Fred Gillaspy

La Honda Winery’s vineyard manager and award-winning winemaker Ken Wornick is not your typical wine guy.  As if running La Honda’s Redwood City, California winery and tasting room weren’t enough, he also eagerly enjoys the rigors of constantly and meticulously managing 31 small, feisty vineyards, collaborating regularly with a number of well-heeled vineyard owner clients — each with a unique personality and lifestyle.  He shepherds the fruits of all these labors through the entire winemaking process from harvest to bottle.  Wornick literally loves every back breaking moment of it.  In fact, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Managing Private Estate Vineyards in The Santa Cruz Mountains
A geologist by trade, with a masters degree in business, Wornick has built an impressive and lengthy history of managing small, private estate vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains wine appellation, growing exceptional fruit, and recently debuting with commercial medal-winning wine releases bearing the La Honda Winery label.  Wornick explains how he began managing vineyards for others … “We recognized a confluence of unique conditions on the San Francisco Peninsula — a growing climate very conducive to wine grapes has been crowded-out by housing and industry over the years, but still has the soil and micro-climate conditions for producing world-class grapes. There’s also a potential client base of wine enthusiasts, with large homes on ample land, with the capital and patience to deploy the land into grapes.  We now manage 31 such vineyards, all farmed to commercial standards, at an average of 3 acres each.”

Most of Wornick’s prestigious clients began their journey with him as earnest and intense wine enthusiasts, with some having goals of collecting “trophy wines” in their personal cellars.  Wornick adds, “of course, many of those trophy wines are worth the hype, but some are not.  Our clients have learned to appreciate the difference between hype and reality as they watch their vineyards grow and develop over the years, witnessing the transformation, tasting the wines as they evolve.”  New clients initially have every intention of aggressively assisting with harvest, but often the “romance” quickly fades as they discover how physically demanding and challenging the work can be.  “Most resign themselves to enjoying the experience of watching the vineyards develop over the course of seasons.  And many join-in for bottling activities.  Simply stated, they’re genuinely committed vineyard owners who’ve worked hard to get to where they are in their professional and personal lives, and sincerely appreciate and recognize the work that we do.”

Evoking Great Wines From Unique Vineyards
The vineyards that Wornick tends along the western and eastern slopes of the San Francisco Peninsula foothills — from  the towns of Woodside and La Honda at the northern end, and Saratoga at the southern end — are endowed with names that often stir the imagination.  Vineyard names like Lonehawk, Guardian Oak and Marrone — when visited in person one can understand why their owners chose these monikers — some named for the “spirit” that the terroir exudes, others for their documented place in local history.  

Lonehawk Vineyard, owned by Steve Haynes, a former exec at Symantec, presides on a southeast facing slope at a 1000 ft elevation above Saratoga Village, with shallow soils and “old-school” wide spacing — rendering an award-winning La Honda Winery Cabernet Sauvignon bearing its name, capturing a double gold medal at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, a gold medal in Appellation America’s Best of Appellation and garnering an impressive rating of 93 points from Wine Enthusiast.  “It’s a classic wine with a bright and lengthy future, to be certain,” Wornick adds.

Guardian Oak Vineyard, is a recent venture presenting new horizons for Wornick, as well as for the vineyard’s owners, prominent pharmaceutical exec Cris McReynolds and his wife Pam.  Guardian Oak is a very experimental half-acre Pinot Noir planting, just west of Skyline Boulevard, (which meanders along the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains), off of Old La Honda Road.  Its promise for the future surely rests in both Wornick’s keen viticultural talents and skills, but is also deeply influenced by the property’s rich heritage, dating back to the original Homestead Act enacted by Abraham Lincoln in 1862.

Marrone Vineyard, also near Saratoga, is owned by former Palm CFO Andy Brown and his wife Pam.  It is a three-acre Pinot Noir vineyard planted in 1998, that produces small fist-sized clusters of fruit with tightly packed berries and very low yields.  La Honda Winery’s Pinots attribute their deep, earthy spice to this sensational fruit from Marrone, which means “brown” in Italian.

If Vines Could Talk
For Wornick, working with so many clients and vineyards can inevitably lead to some unusual and comical experiences when out in the field.  Wornick reminisced recently on one such occurrence. “One of our vineyards was getting close to being ready for its first harvest. The client was out of town on vacation when an unexpected heat wave struck.  Knowing that he wanted to be a part of the inaugural picking, I was keeping him up-to-date on the status of the fruit, and suddenly, within 16 hours, the fruit was ready and the call went out.  He was so intent on not missing his first harvest that he chartered a private jet to get back to the Bay Area in time.  But, by the time he arrived at the vineyard in his private limo, all the fruit was picked and we were heading off to the winery to crush.  Although the client inadvertently ended up missing the harvest, his commitment and visible demonstration of how involved he wanted to be was inspirational.  But, I must admit, it was the first time I ever went to the winery with a load of fruit escorted by a black stretch limo!”

Expectations of Perfection
All of the vineyards that Wornick manages are sustainably farmed, which significantly contributes to the character and overall quality of the final product.  “Every single vineyard is meticulously hand-farmed,” Wornick notes.  “Why? First, because our clients have made a significant investment, and second, because they expect perfection — in the wine certainly, but also in how the vineyards look throughout the year.  And, most importantly, because attention to detail is ‘everything’ in vineyard farming.”  Wornick and his crew ensure that every vine is individually pruned by hand, thinned, hedged, de-leafed, trained and shoot positioned.  Only organic materials are used — no petro-chemicals of any kind are even considered.  “All of this effort shows through in the elegance and finesse of our wines.  A few of the wines that are more rustic take years to age and soften.  But it’s worth the wait, because these wines return the benefit of time with huge perfume,” Wornick exclaimed.

Challenges Reap Rewards
There’s no question that at the end of each day in the vineyards, the many challenges that Ken Wornick constantly meets to grow the best possible wine grapes reap rewards beyond measure.  “Imagine farming a single 80-acre vineyard.  Now divide that vineyard into 31 unique pieces, each with a different owner.  That’s my daily logistical challenge.  But honestly, it’s really a lot of fun.”  Wornick is passionate about growing, producing and selling local, sustainable products.  “When open-minded wine lovers come to the winery and afford themselves the chance to discover wines that are unique and enjoyable to drink — that’s one of the best rewards we can receive for our efforts in the vineyard, and in the barrel room.”  

La Honda Winery is located at 2645 Fair Oaks Avenue in Redwood City. The winery is open for wine tasting the third Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information call the winery at (650) 366-4104 or visit their website at www.lahondawinery.com.