Today, we’d like to introduce you to Cane Vanderhoof.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I co-founded etchedwine.com in 1997 — which launched by etching 20,000 commemorative edition wine bottles (for Gallo) for the Superbowl when it was in San Diego. The company exploded in 1999- 2000 — etching every wine and champagne you can imagine for the Year 2000 celebrations in hotels and casinos (Vegas!) and corporate groups of all kinds.
My wine knowledge developed rapidly and exponentially as I was responsible for assembling these large, complicated wine orders. As my knowledge developed, so did my passion — wine has a funny way of doing that.
In 2000, I started shopping for small wineries. Started in Napa, then moved on to Paso. Jon MacPherson at Thornton Winery in Temecula convinced me to add Temecula to my list of potential wine countries. “We need young blood down here!”
I eventually drove through Temecula and found I loved the charm of little Piconi Winery — then just a small barn on top of a little hill. I called John Piconi informally and had a great conversation about wine. At the end of the call, he agreed to sell it to me. We moved down in early 2001 and changed the name to Miramonte “Look at the Mountain.”
I cleaned up and worked the winery by day and took enology classes by night (UC Davis — on VHS tapes — that’s how ancient I am now — projected onto a 15-screen in the tasting room). Jon MacPherson is my proctor. Fortunately, I graduated at the top of my class, and I never looked back.
We focused the winery first on a generally southern Rhone-inspired style of winemaking — our first vintage of Estate Syrah earned either a 94 or 96. With time, we broadened our vision even farther south — to Spain and Portugal. Today, we focus on what I like to call Spanish and southern French heritage grape varieties. Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Tempranillo, Touriga Nacional, Albarino, and Alicante Bouschet — among other more esoteric varieties — and some resulting blends.
From the start, I also launched weekend entertainment from 5-10 PM — every Friday and Saturday in Wine County. This made me a bit unpopular with the older owners — “they told me, we’re wine COUNTRY — with an emphasis on COUNTRY. We close at 5, and that’s how it should stay.” But Temecula was growing, and closing at five was unimaginable to me. Pechanga was still in tents. Old Town was not yet built up. Our mall was small and provincial. Yet Temecua was exploding as a new, affordable suburban haven from San Diego, Orange County, and even LA. So pioneered “after-hours” entertainment and kept it going despite some local resistance.
In 2004, I bought out my partner, bought more acreage, and expanded to 15 total acres. We redesigned our hilltop to include our beautiful gardens and verandas. This launched a period of intense growth and excitement at Miramonte — Temecula was a wine country on steroids, and Miramonte was regularly churning out 90+ pointers and packing the house every weekend. Other wineries were also starting to do great things. Temecula was coming into its own.
In 2008, we added Reinhard Schlassa as our winemaker. Educated at Davis, he came from the prestigious Argyle Winery in Oregon. His skills were truly remarkable — better than I ever was. Today, I see myself as akin to a director of the orchestra, and Reinhard is a fabulous lead musician. He’s added immeasurable depth to our program.
In 2015, we added an inspired yet unpretentious bistro/restaurant and instantly won national awards. Along the way, we became one of the top few most heavily-awarded wineries in southern California. Today, our bistro and wine awards are impressive (last year, two of our wines again won Best of California).
We are at once grateful, fortunate, and proud to be a central driver of the new Temecula vision. It has been a lot of work. But so much fun! Today? There are many better wineries and many better restaurants than ever before. It’s fabulous. And we all get better every day. For all that we are not done, there is more exciting work to do, and I remain eager for what comes next.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Bureaucracy: California rules and regulations are horrible. It is not a business-friendly atmosphere/government…
Climate: As gentleman farmers, we are slaves to the climate and weather. We must be smart, vigilant, and nimble, as any grape grower will tell you.
Money: the wine business is expensive.
Time: I love my work so much I don’t want to sleep. So there’s never enough time in the day.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Moved around a bit as a kid and young man — I lived in California, Oregon, Alaska, Arizona, and Hawaii. I feel my life has been pretty diverse.
Driven! Hopefully, smart, stubborn, independent, and hardworking. Maybe a little too wild — I was a wild child — generally known for thinking outside the box. But always driven for excellence (I like to think, anyway).
Contact Info:
- Website: www.miramontewinery.com
- Instagram: @miramontewinery
- Facebook: @miramontewinery
- Twitter: @miramontewinery
Image Credits
Bryan Giardinelli and Joel Buekelman
