Tehachapi's wine region is attracting visitors

Provided.

To thank Mike Van Atta and Beth Hamilton for their presentation, President Jennifer Palakiko presented them with a certificate, and a donation was made to the Rotary Foundation in their honor.

Mike Van Atta and Beth Hamilton from the Tehachapi Wine & Cattle Company were the guest speakers were at the Jan. 23 meeting of the Rotary Club of Tehachapi.

Mike and Beth have been together for almost 40 years and, bringing a variety of career experience with them, they joke that they failed at retirement when they decided to embark on a new adventure of owning a winery. Mike is also the current president of the Tehachapi Wine Growers Commission.

About 7 years ago, they purchased the Tehachapi Wine & Cattle Company from its founders, Bob and Patty Souza, who established the winery in 2003 as the first vineyard and tasting room to serve the Tehachapi Mountain region. Although they never expected to own a winery, the opportunity presented itself, and they are having a great time running the winery and meeting all the wonderful people who visit their tasting room.

Mike shared the story behind how the winery got its name. The winery was actually named by the legendary actor Jack Palance. Bob and Patty Souza asked Jack, who was their neighbor across the road, for his thoughts on a name for their winery. He suggested Tehachapi Wine & Cattle Co., even though there were no cattle to be seen on the property. The Souzas thought the name had a good ring to it.

The historic ranch dates back to the 1800s and was originally planted with peach trees. The area has always been a prosperous growing region, as the stories have prevailed over time of how the peach trees would need to be propped up with lumber to keep the branches from breaking, due to the abundance of fruit. The old Victorian House on the property is charming, but Mike says, "The house is 130 years old, so it is in need of some work."

Mike and Beth have made a number of improvements over the years, and say they try to continually implement new ideas as they envision them. They will soon be previewing some new wines, including a chocolate espresso and a non-alcoholic wine. They started serving beer to accommodate guests who are not wine drinkers and will be adding a non-alcoholic beer to their menu, as well.

On the weekends, the winery has live entertainment and offers a menu that compliments their wines. Charcuterie is one of their bestsellers, followed by their tri-tip. When Rotarians commented about how they love the tri-tip, Mike proudly replied, "I smoke that myself!" They have other popular menu items, including chili in bread bowls, and delicious chocolate chip cookies, which Mike says, "They're very labor intensive, but worth it!"

As president of the Tehachapi Wine Growers Commission, Mike gave a little history of the growth of the wine industry in the Tehachapi area. Tehachapi Wine & Cattle was the first vineyard in the area, and the industry has grown to include nine vineyards and six tasting rooms. The newest, Hochland Wines – Saar Family Vineyard, is planning to break ground for a tasting room in the spring. They are projecting to open in 2026, with a manufacturing facility to follow, where they will ferment, age and bottle the wine on site. This will be the first manufacturing facility in the Tehachapi wine region, as the other wineries in the area work with wineries in the Paso Robles area to do the processing.

Now that Tehachapi has been designated as a wine region, they are seeing an increase in the number of people coming into the tasting room, especially from Bakersfield, as Tehachapi is closer than traveling to Paso Robles or other wine regions. This is also having a ripple effect into the local economy, as people are staying overnight, eating in local restaurants, buying gas and visiting other local businesses. They are also seeing an increase in visitors coming from Ridgecrest, as they attend the Ridgecrest wine and beer events held every other month, which is raising an awareness of Tehachapi wines.

Tehachapi Wine Growers Commission supports local events that help highlight the local wine and other local businesses. They will be participating in the upcoming Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce Valentine's Wine Walk on Feb. 15, from noon to 5 p.m., which will showcase all of the local wineries (see event map on page 32 of this issue). In addition, they are working with Tehachapi Valley Parks and Recreation District for Sip & Savor Tehachapi, which will be held during the summer solstice in June at Brite Lake.

The Tehachapi Rotary Club meets at noon every Thursday at Kelcy's, and is a time to gather for fellowship, learn about important and relevant topics and work together to support our local community. Rotary is the largest service organization in the world, and is committed to "Service Above Self," devoting time and resources to projects that make a difference around the globe. For more information about the Rotary Club, you can visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/RotaryClubofTehachapi/.