The

Lockwood Vineyard

Story

One of the great truisms is that world-class wines are only attainable from great vineyard locations and uncompromised excellence in winemaking. Given this ideal, Lockwood Vineyard was born in 1989 with the intent of producing premium and ultra-premium wines from a single, contiguous 1,850 acre vineyard located in the southern extremities of Monterey County. The partners of Lockwood are dedicated to the concept of estate bottled wines, a legal definition that requires 100 percent of the wine to be grown, produced and bottled from vines exclusively tended and vinified on-site.

The large estate was planted in 1981 under the direction of founding partners Paul Toeppen, Phil Johnson and Butch Lindley, who have cumulative vineyard management experience of over 90 years. The parcel was carefully chosen, having an excellent climate, soil structure and water source for premium grapes. The vineyard is one of the largest premium estate vineyards in the world, selling fruit to a handful of California’s most elite wineries.

Nestled at the base of the Santa Lucia mountains, the vineyard consists of “Lockwood Shaley Loam,” a welldrained, calcareous “chalk-rock” found in only two small areas of Central California. The soil is uniform to depths of greater than 20 feet and due

toits low nutrient and mineral content, the vines are restrained and must work hard for survival. Due in part to the vineyard’s proximity to the Monterey Bay and warm rangeland to the south, Lockwood’s climate oftentimes experiences mornings of 50†F and midday temperatures of 110†F – a diurnal swing of 60†F in a matter of a few hours. As a result of our vineyard’s location and unique growing conditions, we are able to grow and mature both warm climate and cool climate grapes with unprecedented success.

Since our first vintage, Lockwood has garnered numerous prestigious awards, gold medals and accolades from top wine writers. In 1992, Wine & Spirits honored Lockwood in the top 15 small wineries of the year, and in 1998, theWine Enthusiast ranked Lockwood as one of the top 10 wine estates in California. In 1998 the prestigious Wine Spectator listed Lockwood’s 1995 Chardonnay as number 64 in the “Top 100 Wines of the World” out of a field of 10,000 reviewed wines.

Lockwood’s philosophy is quite simple: “We own our winery and the vineyard and are uncompromising in every aspect of wine and grape quality. We are accountable only to ourselves and our customers.” Each bottle of Lockwood wine reflects this commitment and philosophy.