By Cristy Shauck
Bill and Brenda Murphy just wanted to landscape their back yard in 1987, when Eddy Szyjewicz, a vineyard installer, talked them into planting chardonnay grapes.
The first year the vines bore fruit, a dentist whose hobby was winemaking asked to harvest the Murphys' grapes in return for half the wine he made. The wine tasted pretty good, they thought. The next year, it was better. By 1992, the third year, they had gone commercial, producing a cabernet sauvignon and a pinot noir in addition to the chardonnay.
They chose the name Clos La Chance for their wine. "Clos is French for enclosure. La Chance is my maiden name," Brenda says.
Since Clos La Chance is a small winery, the Murphys lease facilities at the Roudon-Smith winery in Scotts Valley in order to process the grapes. Last year's yield included 1,300 cases of chardonnay, 250 of pinot noir and 700 of cabernet sauvignon.
Grapes from specialty areas in the Santa Cruz mountains are combined with the chardonnays on the Murphys' property to produce a distinctive wine. "The grapes in each location have a different taste," Brenda explains. "It's the combination of these flavors that makes our wine unique."
From the harvesting of the grapes by hand through the whole-cluster pressing and fermenting in white French oak, the grapes are handled as gently as possible and provided with optimum conditions in hopes they will produce a spectacular wine.
Master winemaker Szyjewicz oversees the fermentation and aging processes.
Whatever they're doing must be working. On Oct. 5, 1995, Bill and Hillary Clinton served a bottle of 1993 Clos La Chance chardonnay at a dinner honoring recipients of the National Medal of Arts and Charles Frankel prizes. Bob Hope and Charles Kuralt were present. The Murphys framed the announcement card bearing a gold seal and describing the meal served with their wine.
For a newcomer, Clos La Chance is racking up an amazing number of honors. For example, at the Santa Cruz County fair, the '93 pinot noir earned a gold medal, the '93 cabernet sauvignon a silver, and the '93 chardonnay a bronze. And the Wine Spectator awarded the '93 chardonnay 89 points and the cabernet sauvignon 88 points.
The division of labor for the winery is lopsided. As president, Brenda oversees accounting, shipping, restaurant sales, artistic design and delivery. Bill, who is also employed full-time by Hewlett Packard, handles sales and their newsletter.
Brenda was able to make the transition from teacher to mother to vintner fairly smoothly. The establishment and growth of the winery has dovetailed with the increasing independence and eventual flight from the nest of their two daughters, Kristen, 19, and Cheryl, 22, who are college students.
A hummingbird decorates the label of every Clos La Chance bottle. "A friend told me to place hummingbird feeders around the perimeter of our lot," says Brenda. "Supposedly, the sound of the vibration of their wings drives away other birds that would feed on the grapes. With its grace and style, we think it's a perfect symbol for our wine."
The label was created by area designer Rick Tharp of Tharp Did It. Jana Heer did the artwork. Hummingbirds also appear on the capsule, the cover at the top of the bottle.
"This way, when people want to pull one of our bottles from their rack, they can recognize it by our logo," Bill points out.
The Murphys learned a lot about winemaking the first year. They spent nine months jumping through the bureaucratic hoops required for permits and licenses. During their first crush, or winemaking session, the equipment broke down.
Then Brenda lost a case of wine by sending it to the wrong city.
She packed wine glasses with the bottles of wine but forgot to add filler, so people received packages of broken glass.
"Persistence is our motto," Brenda says. "You have to be patient with wine because it has to sit two or three years before you can find out what you have," she adds.
Running the winery does have its good points. Bill grins and says, "You meet wonderful people and spend a lot of money."
The winery's books aren't quite in the black yet. "You have to invest a lot of capital up front," Bill explains, "even if you lease space and grow your own grapes."
The Murphys' goal isn't to have their wine in every store that sells spirits. "We just want people to know about us and seek out our product," Bill says. "We want to make the best wine we can."
Brenda offers these final words of advice: "Get your friends to put vineyards in their back yards, so they can sell you their grapes!"
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, January 31, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved