Be it winegrapes, Gelbvieh cattle or Percherons, Bob Denney is into “the good kind.”

The Denneys worked for those same people for about 8 years, developing a vineyard in the San Joaquin Valley. In 1980, Bob accepted an offer to work for a large company. He says, “While I was with them, we went from 3000 to 10,000 acres of orchards and vineyards–just about anything you can think of that grows on a tree or vine from quince to table grapes, peaches, plums, nectarines, almonds, walnuts, oranges, lemons and lots and lots of winegrapes. My background was just right to really fill a niche there and within a year, I was executive vice president and was running the farming side of the operation. It was pretty interesting.”

In 1983, Bob and Shelley formed their own vineyard management company in the central valley. The wines grown there largely are wines destined to be the jug wines or the bag-in-the-box wines, relatively inexpensive, high volume wines. “The problem with being a grower for such things is that it’s just a commodity really, and practically anybody can grow them,” Bob says. “The margins are fairly low and you can’t differentiate yourself in the marketplace in terms of quality.

“I love growing winegrapes, but I wasn’t going to make any money there. The premium side of the business however, has a lot more potential, so I started to look around.” In 1988, he and Shelley began to seek out real estate during weekend and holiday excursions to the central coast.

COASTAL WINE COUNTRY

The world-renowned Napa Valley quickly comes to mind as California’s premier wine-producing area, followed by neighboring Sonoma County, but wine is produced in several other parts of the Golden State. Further south, between Los Angeles and San Francisco, is a distinctive region known as the state’s Central Coast region. Traditionally barley and cattle country, this area is acquiring a reputation for its own vintages, many of them handcrafted in smaller boutique wineries. The distinctness of these wines can be credited largely to the unique climate there, which involves a 50-degree swing in temperature from day to night (during the growing season) and a relatively small amount of precipitation, meaning everything is irrigated. Water is absolutely essential to the success of virtually every enterprise here, including the grapevines. The disparate flavors that come from various areas are the basis for authenticating a wine’s pedigree, but we’ll get to that later.

“We were looking for 40 acres to plant to grapes for retirement,” Bob continues, “But it was a time when real estate prices were depressed around here. We were fortunate to find a place and bought 630 acres instead of 40.” The place, of course, is their Bradley ranch, called Hames Valley Vineyards.

A typical scene at the Central Valley ranch, where nearly 700 acres are planted to Cabernet Sauvignot, Merlot and Syrah winegrapes.

Bob continues, “We planted our first 150 acres of vines here in 1989 and made our first wine in 1991 with the first crop of grapes. We just took a very small percentage of our production and took it to a custom processor and had them make the wine for us.” His idea was to make the best wine possible from their grapes and then use it to entice other wineries into contracting to grow some grapes for them. “In about 1993,” adds Bob, “We also planted a 10-acre block with 26 different varieties of grapes, so that we could see what else would grow well in our environment besides the three or four major varieties.” The idea of offering samples to wineries was again put to use in similar fashion. The strategy was so successful in securing long term contracts that today, the Denneys have 700 acres of vines in production. That original 630 acres has obviously grown through the purchases of several adjacent properties and the ranch currently covers 2,400 acres, on which additional vineyards are planted each year.

By the mid-‘90s, the Denneys knew that some awfully good wine could be made from their own grapes. Bob reflects, “If we’d just been delivering to the large wineries and we got a little sample back from them, it might or might not have been handled to the ultimate quality level and it might or might not have been blended with somebody else’s. So once we started to establish that we had a particularly good place to grow certain varieties that will stand up to competition from anywhere else in the world, then we realized that we needed to go to the next level. That is to go ahead and put something in the bottle with our own name on it and attempt to sell it.”

FINE WINE

From their first crop of grapes, the Denneys have 300 cases of their Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah to release under their new label this year. Next summer, they will release about 2,000 cases, reflecting the increased acreage of grapes planted each year.

“It’s a big step from growing grapes to making wine out of it,” says Bob. “The math is kind of interesting. If we sell our grapes out the door, we get paid cash within 60 days, we’ve got the money to live on and go down the road to next year. However, if you make wine, first of all, you don’t get the cash, and we have to pay to have someone else make the wine for us, then buy the bottles, the oak barrels, corks, labels, the boxes and all that stuff. So now, we’ve got a considerable sum invested and haven’t sold anything yet. But not only that, we’ve got to wait 2 years before we can start to sell it. So you’ve got three years in inventory before you’re ever starting to get anything back.”

To make their wine, the Denneys work with a very high end custom processing facility near San Luis Obispo which serves only 11 other clients. Bob adds, “They only deal with small lots. All the technology is there and it’s run by a very highly-thought-of French wine maker. We have, in essence, contracted long term for a percentage of their capacity–kinda' like a co–op. We deliver to them the very best grapes that we can. We grow them specifically destined to be in that program. And then, we work with the wine maker with certain specifications about what we’re trying to get out of it, so he knows how much to put into it, knows the price point we’re shooting at and so forth. That will serve us well up to the point where we’re producing about 10,000 cases. Once we’ve reached that mark, we flip over into being too big for them and maybe too small for the next level of production. So that’s the point where we’ll probably be saying we need to build our own facility on the ranch and hire someone to run it.”

Denney expects to be faced with that decision in the next 5 to 7 years. In addition to the consideration of sheer volume, Bob says that it will require a huge capital investment and they have to be certain that they can sell the product. He says, “So many people get into the wine-making business...there are close to 1,500 separate labels coming out of California now and an awful lot of people get into the wine-making side thinking life style, enjoyment, a second career and so forth, so they invest a lot of money in building facilities and never think about how they’re going to sell it.” For that reason Bob has employed a marketing consultant to build this end of the business. They are confident of the ability to sell directly via the Internet, mail order, wine club, word-of-mouth, etc. up to 10,000 cases. This is allowed in 20-some states legally, but once they meet that milestone, Bob says, “You need to move into the regular three-tiered distribution network where you have distributors and wholesalers. Then, your margins per case go down, but your volume goes up.”

So how many grapes will be produced from Hames Valley’s current 700 acres of vines? “When it’s all mature, that’ll yield almost 5,000 tons a year,” Bob reports. “That’s the equivalent of about 315,000 cases of wine per year, which is a lot of wine. Of the 2,400 acres on the ranch, we’ve got another thousand that’s plantable, so we’ve got plenty of room to grow over time.”

It’s a very high tech operation. All of the vines are watered via pipelines utilizing a method called deficit irrigation. What this means is that the amount of water the plants receive is site specific and determined through various means including weather forecasts and on-site weather stations that measure air temperature and humidity. All of the water is pumped from two wells on the ranch, the deepest of which runs to 1,200 feet.

The Denneys currently have 12 full-time employees on the ranch, most of whom are involved with grape production. Of those, three are engaged with the cattle, horses and various construction projects. The grape harvest generally takes place in September, but can run into October. Once the grapes are pressed, fermentation takes ten days. Then, the wine is placed in oak barrels for 18 months. The wine extracts tannin from the oak, so it is tasted every three months in order to determine when it should be moved to older barrels.

APPELLATION SYSTEM

In winespeak, the address of a wine, or its origin, is referred to as an “appellation.” The French created the categorization as a means of authenticating that pedigree and to identify wines that share certain attributes, thereby controlling the value. In the U.S., appellations are defined by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms as “American Viticultural Areas,” (or AVAs for short). Considering how many labels exist, each distinction becomes increasingly important to the marketing of a wine, in addition to clueing the oenophilist (Greek for wine freak) in about a wine’s characteristics.

Monterey County, California, alone is made up of 7 different AVAs, constituting a total of 45,000 planted acres. Of that, the Hames Valley AVA consists of a relatively small region covering 10,240 acres (with about 2,000 acres planted to winegrapes). It is one of the newest registered wine growing regions of the county, having been designated just 8 years ago. Of major importance to its grape growers, the area is sheltered from the strong winds of the Salinas Valley, yet it receives substantial evening cooling from the Monterey Bay. On average, it is much warmer than in the majority of the county. Shaly loam soil coupled with the area’s unique climactic characteristics impart intense flavors, outstanding balance and brilliant colors to the dominant grape varieties –Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

If, like me, you wonder from where the name for both the ranch and AVA originated, Bob Denney admits he’s not behind it. The area was named after John Hames, a New Yorker that moved to California in the early 1840s. He settled in the area where the valley joins the Salinas River, hence the region was named for him. As Bob Denney puts it, with a name like Hames Valley, “It was preordained that we would have draft horses here!”

A DIFFERENT VINTAGE

The horse connection at Hames Valley is somewhat hard to put a finger on. Bob can recall back in Delaware, his grandfather always kept some Percheron-crosses, and his uncle used to tell him horse stories that helped to inspire a keen interest. In addition, Bob and Shelley’s three daughters–Amy, 25; Robin, 21; and Audrey, 18–have all had saddle horses as 4-H and FFA projects. But Bob himself had not been bitten by the bug. That all changed just a few years ago.

Bob recalls hearing through the grapevine about a man at Three Rivers, California with 9 Percheron geldings for sale. He and the two youngest daughters drove to Bob Chilcott’s on Mother’s Day to take a look. Chilcott was a well-known veteran teamster and dairyman that played a hand in getting several Californians started with heavy horses. He had shown a six-horse hitch throughout much of the West for a quarter of a century.

“Chilcott was a marvelous story teller and just enthralled us with tales about doing great things with horses,” recalls Bob. “The more I talked to him, the more excited I got about it. He [Chilcott] was about 75 at that point and was having to give up the horses because the arthritis was so bad in his hands he couldn’t drive anymore.”

What really piqued Bob’s attention was the fact that Chilcott hadn’t started to drive horses until he was 50. “I was just shy of 50 myself,” he says. “I started thinking that’s something I could tie into the ranch, we’ve got plenty of space. The girls were really excited about the idea, too, because it was something we could do as a family. So, the three of us pretty-much decided that we were going to buy this one young gelding. Thought we’d just start with one and see how it goes. We went home and told Shelley that we’d gotten her something for Mother’s Day, but she had to come look at it first. So, we took her back up there the next day and she fell in love with the horse, too. So we ended up with Rex, our first Percheron. We showed him at L.A. and Grass Valley in the cart.”

Dale Thurow putting the Hames Valley mares through their paces through one of the vineyards. This bunch of mares joins the likes of the Budweiser Clydes, the Heinz Percherons and the Coors Belgians as company icons promoting the product. – Gregg Cobarr photo

Hames Valley’s driver and trainer, Dale Thurow, accompanied by Jennifer Hunder, with the mare unicorn at the Calgary Stampede. – Browarny photo

Mr. Chilcott is also to credit for bringing Dale Thurow into the mix. Dale, a transplant from Illinois, had been helping him show horses for some 15 years. Bob [Denney] also purchased an 1860 Beverwyck Lager brewery wagon from Chilcott at the same time. [see sidebar on page XX] “From the time I bought it and went to pick it up,” recalls Bob, “Bob [Chilcott] passed away.” When he passed away, he left Dale all of his horse equipment. Dale wanted to continue showing, but found himself short on help. When the Denneys showed an interest in hitching, the partnership was a natural.

Dale is a soon-to-be-retired fireman. His schedule is such that he works several days, then is off for several–most of which he spends at the Denneys’. Not only did Dale bring the know-how and equipment to the operation, but he also brought a competitive spirit.

Regardless of the venture, Bob is not the type to dive into the pool without first checking to see if there’s water in it. It was no different when his interest turned to showing and breeding Percherons. In the spring of 1999, the Denneys made a trip to Alberta. They visited several Percheron breeders such as Gordy Ruzicka, Brian and Colleen Coleman, Bruce Roy and Audrey Turner. While there, they also attended the Wildrose Sale, where they purchased their first stallion, Eaglesfield Final Command. This horse is both a full brother to Stardust Royal Command (1994 All-American & 1993 Reserve All-American) and the last son by Queen’s Commander. Bob had just met Albertan Percheron breeder (and heir to the Glynlea horses) Jennifer Hunder and worked out an arrangement with her. She would help him acquire some good mares and he’d let her use the new stallion on her own mares. Jennifer has also helped at the shows and has become a close family friend.

That summer, Hames Valley debuted their halter string at a handful of shows in California in addition to the Calgary Stampede with encouraging results. They were hooked. Later that summer, the entire family trekked to the National Percheron Show for one purpose...to learn. It was there that Bob met Ron Murray, Starsong Percherons, Shirley, Indiana, and accepted his advice on how to go about entering the scene. Bob is quick to credit Ron for pointing him in the right direction.

When Ron decided to sell out shortly thereafter, he offered his mare hitch to Bob. Through a combination of both private treaty and the Topeka sale, the Denneys ended up with six of the Starsong mares. They now had both a foundation for a breeding program and a nucleus for the Hames Valley Vineyards hitch.

In June of 2000, Bob and Jennifer Hunder made the trip to Gladwin, Michigan to attend the Sterling Dispersal Sale. It was there that his commitment to the horse project became evident throughout the draft horse grapevine. While there, he purchased the 4 year old mare, L.D.’s Prince Classy, the 5 year old stallion, Sterling’s Silver and the 3 year old mare, Sterling’s Shania. Classy, a one-time All-American and one-time Reserve All-American, was purchased for what stands today as the highest price paid for a Percheron mare at public auction. She is by M.G.’s Prince and is out of a South Valley Did-It daughter. Silver is also by Prince and is out of a Blackhome Grandeur Lyn daughter and Shania is by Chief’s Successor Topper and out of Janet of Glynlea (dam of the world champion Sterling’s Thunderstik).

While Bob is behind the efforts to exhibition in the name of the product, Dale is the push to enter more competitive events. – Gregg Cobarr photo

Sterling’s Silver, one of two herd sires at Hames Valley, seems to be throwing the “right kind.”

With Dale serving as driver and trainer, later that year, Hames Valley began competing with their hitch in addition to the halter string. In the hands of Dean and Kelley Woodbury, Classy attained Reserve All-American honors for a second time at the culmination of the show year. The following January, at the 2001 National Western Stock Show, Classy was both grand champion Percheron mare and winner of the mare cart for Hames Valley. She also performed in the lead of the winning 8-horse hitch for Messenger Bros., Cheyenne, Wyoming. (This year, Bob has leased her to Jim & Peg Day and Albert & Karen Cleve for use in their mare six which is headed to the World Percheron Congress.)

MISSION

Taking a step back to 2000, the Denneys were honored as the featured exhibition hitch at San Francisco’s Cow Palace Grand National Rodeo. This is the last big indoor rodeo held before the National Finals Rodeo, meaning large crowds. “The neat thing about that,” says Bob, “Is that it’s a tremendously enthusiastic crowd–100,000 strong.” Besides the fun and the exposure of their horses, Bob pointed out that this area constitutes the best wine market in the country. Bob says, “A lot of the people that attend are also very much interested in the wine deal.

“They liked us so well that they invited us back the second year, and they liked us even better the second year. And they’re bringing us back a third year–this year–and they’ve added a wine-tasting venue so we’ll actually be able to pour wine there and promote our label the same time we’ve got our horses there.

In addition, the California Mid-State Fair, which also draws a hundred thousand spectators, will host the Denneys’ mare six as their featured hitch this year for the second time. Since they have alternated every other year with the Budweiser Clydesdales, this is significant exposure.

They’ll also appear as the featured hitch at this year’s California State Fair in Sacramento.

The exhibitions and public appearances offer a unique opportunity to fulfill Hames Valley’s mission statement, part of which reads, ”We aim to engage the public with agriculture by promoting an appreciation of its historical roots, while holding in the utmost importance: the physical and psychological health of the people and animals involved; professional presentation and behavior; and good sportsmanship.”

Bob states, “Its really rewarding for us, as we use the horses to connect non-farm people with agriculture and maybe bring a few back into an understanding of what’s real and what isn’t. So when we do things like the Cow Palace, the state fair and our local fair, we have plenty of people around to answer questions, we’ve got a lot of story boards up that address these issues. And I think people really like to see the big horses, but they’re a much greater novelty in California than they would be anywhere in the Midwest because there’s just not that many of them out here. We burst on the scene three years ago and other than the Budweiser Hitch, there’s nobody else in the state doing what we’re doing to the extent we’re doing it. So, it opens up a lot of doors for us.”

A CLASSY LABEL

Behind every wine label is a vineyard. But there’s not a Percheron hitch behind every vineyard. It’s unique and something that’s certain to draw attention. For that reason, the new label for Hames Valley Vineyards should stand out on a shelf. A rendering of Classy by noted equine artist, George Carlson, appears on it. And besides being the personal favorite of each of the Denney family (Robin says Classy “raised the bar”), there’s also a practical reason for it being there. Bob declares, “What’s started out as a hobby turns out now to be a pretty good avenue to promote our new wine label. With so many wine labels out there, starting a new one and getting any recognition, any press and any shelf space is really, really hard. But if you have an opportunity through some kind of a niche market to establish yourself and get recognition for something, then it’s easier.”

Bob hopes that his label will be appealing to specific venues, such as bed & breakfasts, restaurants and other rural environments. “If you’ve got a draft horse on the label,” he says, “That’s gonna' be a natural.”

A very “Classy” label, Hames Valley’s Cabernet should be easily recognized.

DAYS OF WINE & ROSES

Though competition is one of his many long-term goals, Bob’s current priority lies in exhibitioning to promote the Hames Valley label. “We’re not your typical draft horse operation,” he says. The breeding operation will be more of a focus in the future as well. He admits that breeding Percherons is “more of a personal interest of Shelley’s and mine–that falls on my livestock background and my desire to produce that superior animal. But we have to make the breeding thing fit our calendar with everything else we’ve got going on. At this point, if I can’t get a mare in foal by the middle of April, I’m going to leave her open.”

Bob obviously has a true commitment to the heavy horse industry and its future in his state. He has served as director of the California Draft Horse Association and has hosted youth clinics at the farm. He continues to improve his own facilities in order to accommodate such events.

With 11 foals born this year, their Percheron herd consists of 37 head. That number is certain to grow as the entire family seems to be involved. Audrey, the youngest daughter, just graduated from high school and is serving as the state FFA reporter for California (a full-time job) for one year. After college, she is interested in returning to the ranch to manage the equine and cattle operations. Robin, the middle daughter, is a senior at UC-Davis studying viticulture and oenology (the science of viniculture). She, on the other hand, is interested in returning to the ranch to run the grape and wine end of the business. Though Amy, the eldest, plans to become an Episcopalian minister, she too receives great joy in the horses.

Bob and Shelley have a lot to look forward to.