Established in 2002 by Bill and Gerry Brinton, Charles Creek Winery has become known as a hallmark for outstanding Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from California’s wide-ranging wine country.
The People Behind Charles Creek
Since his early childhood, Bill Brinton, was instilled with the indispensable characteristics inherent to his Midwestern origins: the importance of family, tradition and hard work. It is these fundamental convictions that he brought to California and with which he established Charles Creek Winery. Brinton’s great, great grandfather was John Deere, the inventor of the self-scouring steel plow, and founder of the equipment company so respected in the agricultural and construction industries. It is obvious that innovation runs in Brinton’s veins.
Gerry Brinton hails from Iowa where she grew up with an intrinsic love and respect of the land drawn from time she spent in the vegetable garden with her grandmother as a child. After moving to North Carolina for an education at Duke University, she made her way to San Francisco with her husband Bill, but soon the call for a more rustic lifestyle called and together they moved to Sonoma to build the dream of making wine that tells stories of California land on which it is grown.
With the help of winemaker Kerry Damskey, the Brintons have been able to realize that aspiration. Damskey has over 25 years of winemaking experience and believes the best wines are made in the vineyards, but that it is his calling to ‘artistically deliver what the terroir brings forth’.
Charles Creek Wines
Highly lauded and awarded, the range of wines from Charles Creek utilizes grapes from four of the best vineyards in Napa and Sonoma. Merlot and Chardonnay are sourced from the Hyde Vineyards in the Carneros region of Napa and the Sangiacomo Vineyards in Sonoma’s Carneros. Their stellar Cabernet Sauvignon grapes grow in the Stagecoach Vineyard of Napa Valley and the Mountain Terraces Vineyard in Sonoma Valley.
The assortment of wines crafted by Kerry Damskey for Charles Creek is worthy of much exploration as it will appeal to a wide range of wine drinkers. Some of the critic’s favourites are the 2004 Las Abuelas Napa Carneros Chardonnay which garnered a Gold Medal at the 2006 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (among several other accolades) due to the minerality, perfect balance and impressive backbone that would rival any decent Chablis.
Awarded an extraordinary 95 point score by the Wine Enthusiast is the 2004 La Vista Stagecoach Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and therefore certainly not one to be missed. Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine is incredibly rich and intense due to the terroir of the Stagecoach Vineyard. Black and red fruits are intermingled with dark chocolate and subtle hints of spice, delivered on a harmonious, silky mouthfeel.
In addition to many more impressive selections, Charles Creek also produces La Bomba Chocolate Raspberry Dessert Wine made in a port-style fashion with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, fortified with brandy and infused with dark chocolate and raspberry flavours; the perfect ending to any meal.
To learn more about the wines of Charles Creek and for a look at some of Gerry’s wine-inspired recipes, visit Bill and Gerry Brinton’s Charles Creek Winery.
Tara O'Leary - Tara O'Leary is a burgeoning writer that enjoys covering any and every topic that captures her attention, but whose focus is wine. She ...
