Beauregard Vineyards: winery information
Winemaker: Ryan Beauregard
Born into a winegrowing family, Ryan Beauregard put his focus on winemaking. His family extends three generations before him, into Bonny Doon and the surrounding Santa Cruz Mountains. They include a bootleg patroller and later winegrape grower, a well-known grocery shop owner who was known for his meats, cheeses, produce and wine departments, and a premier Pinot Noir grower & creator of the Ben Lomond Mountain growing region. Ryan’s family is full of determination, independence and vision.
While he loves to be outdoors in the mountains, on the beach or gaily tooting his horn on his forklift – he feels most at home in the cellar. The first wine he ever crafted, at age 24, was a 1999 Chardonnay, made with minimal wine equipment in his own home. He moved onto storing his increasing array of hand-crafted wines at Hallcrest Vineyards, Mirrasou and Byington. Ryan grew his knowledge through internships and cellar positions. Ryan also concluded that stressed fruit in the vineyard made for the most beautiful wines in the cellar. He believes the harder working grapes contain more balanced acids, flavors and tannins.
His first love is Chardonnay – especially those made with fruit from the Ben Lomond Mountain growing region. “Most people think Chardonnay isn’t cool. But I love Chardonnay, and if that makes me not cool, that’s ok,” he says. Ryan learned his cellar skills through friendships, internships and working relationships with a variety of winemakers in the area, from large case production to boutique; from Burgundian to Bordeaux-focused.
Family means a lot to Ryan. His most important achievement was the birth of his daughter Nora Simone. Wife, Rachel Beauregard works in the winery office alongside their new baby Nora. The family dog, Bacchus, alternates his time between greeting tasting room guests and loping, happily, alongside Ryan in the cellar.
Today, Beauregard Vineyards is settled into its new residence at 10 Pine Flat Road, in Bonny Doon where the newest edition of a lovingly tended estate vineyard surrounds the rustic tasting room. Ryan, ever happy to return to his roots and to his family, thinks his work time is actually his playtime and is enjoying every minute.
Annual Production: 5,000 cases
Amos Beauregard purchased the property (formerly an apple orchard) in 1949 and planted 13 acres of wine grapes. He sold much of the fruit he grew to wineries in Napa. The original 13 acres are still growing strong, and now the vineyard boasts Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel in the higher heat portions of the vineyard and Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the cooler microclimates of the vineyard. Located in the heart of Bonny Doon, this is the original vineyard for the Beauregard family. Featuring sandy, loam soil, the vineyard is well-drained and planted with periphery foliage to add nutrients and vitamins back into the soil. During any given season you may come across blueberries, wildflowers, plums, peaches and leafy shrubs. Healthy vineyards mean healthy grapes and sometimes healthy critters, this vineyard is a known bobcat and coyote hang out.
We keep our estate vineyard to low-yields to preserve grape flavors and expect to produce just 2,300 cases of wine from all four of the varietals planted. These are very special wines being produced, wines that run deep with history, are steeped in legends and tall tales and are immersed with a wild streak of independence.
Grape Varieties Planted