De Tierra Vineyards

Tom Russell, an agriculture professional from Phoenix, Arizona, founded De Tierra Vineyards in the Salinas Valley in 1998 as an organic grape-growing company. In the early 1990s, Russell converted the majority of his conventional row crop vegetable farm to organic, and he had considerable success in the California market. Russell was passionate about wine and farming, and he wanted to learn more about the advantages of organic wine grape growing. Russell teamed up with Lucio Gomiero, a friend and winemaker from Vignalta Italy, to create an organic vineyard in the Corral de Tierra Valley. A 40-acre farm with a south-west facing orientation was chosen, about 15 miles from the Salinas Valley. De Tierra Vineyards was founded as a result of this collaboration. De Tierra began as a shared dream among good friends, and has since grown into a thriving artisanal brand with distribution in over 20 states, numerous awards, an active wine club, and a burgeoning team of experienced wine enthusiasts at its helm. Dan McDonnal and Alix Lynn Bosch are the current owners of De Tierra. De Tierra produces award-winning, hand-harvested wines to share from Monterey County's unique terroir. De Tierra focuses on offering the best depiction "of the land," as the name says. Great wines start in the vineyard, and their purpose is to transfer the terroir's distinctive qualities into great wine. Dan and Alix are committed to continuing De Tierra's tradition of creating high-quality boutique wines. De Tierra produces nine different varieties. They use fruit from high-quality vineyards throughout Monterey County and beyond to make all of their wines. De Tierra's objective is to create handcrafted, premium wines using California's greatest fruit. In Carmel-by-the-Sea, they have a tasting room.