Suzanne Frontz, general manager at Cinnabar Vineyards, walks up the stairs that lead to the cave where oak barrels of wine are stored.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Hill Heritage
Local wineries, stables and other survivors of bygone era attract people who want a taste of what it was like before the Santa Clara Valley became Silicon Valley
By Kara Chalmers
Photographs By Kathy De La Torre
Those in the city who know their history call Saratoga's hillsides the last true remnant of what Saratoga was once upon a time. In the hills are the industries that give Saratoga its rural charm. The hillsides preserve one of the area's oldest traditions--winemaking. "Grapes came first and orchards came second, believe it or not," said Cinnabar Vineyard's winemaker, George Troquato, 39. "First grapes, then it went to fruit trees, then it went to silicon chips."
Among the private businesses in the hillsides are Cooper-Garrod Vineyards and Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards, which have tasting rooms where one can buy wine and other merchandise. Many of these wineries, such as Cinnabar, also rent their buildings and grounds for special events. At the stables at Garrod Farms, horses can be rented or boarded, and riding lessons are offered
The Mountain Winery is the old Paul Masson winery. Masson, a French vintner, completed what he called his "vineyard in the sky"--which included a three-story stone chateau that still exists--in 1905. Concerts at the Mountain Winery debuted in 1957, seven years after winemaking operations ceased. Today, it is a summer concert venue, a restaurant and a banquet hall.
It is in these hillsides, a short drive away from the hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley, that the city's history is kept alive, according to Bill Cooper. Cooper, 55, is winemaker at Cooper-Garrod Vineyards, the winery and stables off Mount Eden Road in Saratoga.
Until the high-tech industry exploded, agriculture was the biggest business in the valley. What's left of this once vibrant industry is mostly in the hillsides, as the valley floor fills with houses and the orchards dwindle in number. With urban expansion, the rural areas have been pushed out--and up, Cooper said.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Bill Cooper prunes the vines at Cooper-Garrod Vineyards.
Sixth Business District
Cooper goes so far as to say the hillsides could even be called a Saratoga business district, because the businesses there contribute to the city financially, albeit indirectly.
Business owners in Saratoga and city officials confirm that the hillsides are a draw for Saratoga. "We are the destination that brings people into Saratoga," Cooper said. The customers who patronize the hillside businesses, in turn, spend money in Saratoga and bolster the city's sales-tax revenue. People come to the hillsides to "get out to the country," Cooper said. "We provide the ambience."
The city of Saratoga has five business districts: the Argonaut Shopping Center, the Village, the Gateway area, Quito Village and Westgate West, according to the city's administrative services director, Mary Jo Walker. The districts are, essentially, shopping areas composed of retail shops, restaurants, cafes and other specialty businesses that also generate money for Saratoga through business licenses.
In contrast, the hillside businesses are all outside the city limits, in Santa Clara County. The city of Saratoga doesn't get a taste of tax revenue from the wine poured in the tasting rooms of the hillside wineries. But the city makes its money when people stop in Saratoga for an unplanned meal, or shopping, while on their way to one of the hillside businesses.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
George Troquato, winemaker at Cinnabar Vineyards, walks through the cave where wine-filled oak barrels are stored. The cave is built into the hillside of the winery.
Symbiotic Relationships
Many of the high-end restaurants located in the Village, such as Sent Sovi, Viaggio and the Plumed Horse, carry wines from the hillside wineries. "We take great pride in supporting each other," said Suzanne Frontz, general manager of Cinnabar Vineyards
If the restaurants support the hillside wineries, the wineries respond in kind, according to Bill Cooper (no relation to the Bill Cooper at Cooper-Garrod Vineyards), who owns Bella Saratoga on Big Basin Way in the Village.
Cooper, whose restaurant stocks wine from all the hillside wineries, called them "sight-seeing attractions" that bring people to Saratoga on the weekends. For example, the Mountain Winery's summer concert series brings hordes of people, who in turn eat at the restaurants. "We send people to them and they send people to us all the time," said Bella Saratoga's Cooper.
When the Santa Clara County Planning Department conceptually approved an expansion of the Mountain Winery in March 2000, the action drew complaints from Saratoga residents, who said it would lead to more cars, people and noise. Jumping to the defense of the Mountain Winery were Saratoga restaurant owners and other business people, including the Chamber of Commerce.
The geography of the area was cited by Bella Saratoga's Cooper, as another contributing factor toward stimulating business. People must drive down Big Basin Way, through Saratoga's downtown, to reach the hillside attractions. If people didn't have to use the road to get to the hillsides, a lot less people would know about downtown. "You've got to get found," Cooper said of Saratoga's businesses.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Bill Cooper visits the residents of the stables at Cooper-Garrod Farms, which boards horses. Trail rides are also offered.
Getting 'Found'
Getting "found" may not be as important for some hillside businesses, such as the well-known Mountain Winery, owned by an investor group that includes Hotmail co-founder and Saratoga resident Jack Smith, Los Gatos developer Bill Hirschman and local real estate investor Elizabeth Dodson.
Other hillside businesses, such as Kathryn Kennedy and Mount Eden vineyards, are primarily wine distributors and are not open to the public. Cinnebar Vineyards opens to the public five days a year, in addition to its special-event business, but it does not have a tasting room.
Standing in the middle of rural Cooper-Garrod Vineyards and Garrod Farms, it is easy for one to feel he, or she, is in the middle of nowhere. As far as one can see, there is ruralness. Among the hills covered with vineyards sit old horse barns with names like Sequoia, Madrone and Antique.
The roads are dirt and the fences are wooden or white picket, and some of them look pretty rickety. Birds chirp and horses clomp in the stables. Cats sun themselves on the roof of one of the buildings, next to smoke curling out from a chimney.
One of Saratoga's original farmers, English immigrants David and Sophia Garrod bought the property in 1893, and planted and developed fruit orchards. The Garrod family gradually increased the acreage of the property, and the orchards lasted until the 1960s.
In 1972, George Cooper, who had married Louise, the granddaughter of David and Sophia, planted the vineyards. George Cooper, now 85, preceded his son, Bill, as a winemaker. In 1994, the Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards celebrated the first public release of its wines.
Today, the family-owned and -operated property consists of a 21-acre vineyard, winery and riding stables. There are plans for more vineyards.
The property still has the original barns and the "Fruit House"--built in 1922--where the family stored the prunes and apricots picked from their orchards. After the fruit was shipped out, the family would hold barn dances in the winter, said Bill Cooper. Today, the fruit house is used as a tasting room.
When a place such as Cooper-Garrod changes--from an industry growing and shipping fruit to a destination as a winery and stables--the ability to be "found" takes on increased importance, Cooper said. Saratoga has decided to help visitors locate these hillside businesses by buying and installing signs that direct visitors to and from the area.
For Cooper-Garrod, the farm once was a place where fruit was grown, stored, shipped, and nothing more. Today, the family depends on people finding them for part of their livelihood.
"Part of our business is hospitality," said Bill Cooper's wife Doris, who also works at Cooper-Garrod. "We are here six days a week, welcoming people ... It really is California ranch hospitality at its finest. It's one of those places that's very special to the family and yet we've included many people over the years to come share in that joy."
Saratoga, California Since 1955
