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OLD
CREEK RANCH WINERY – OJAI
Wine Tasting and History in the Ventura River Valley
Wine
tasting touring is a relatively modern idea, but wine making has been
a feature of
the Ojai valley since the 18th Century, though the
wines you’ll find are not quite of that vintage. The Old Creek
Ranch Winery, located just of the –Highway into Ojai is part of
that long heritage. The original winery of old gravity equipment still
stands in a rather dilapidated wooden structure behind the current tasting
room and modern equipment. The winery history on the spot actually goes
back to California’s first settlement.
The Spanish came to the valley of the Ventura River in the 1700s, but
with the independence of Mexico in 1821, the control of the vast lands
of California changed hands to the “Californios”. A 22,000
acre section of the valley now called Ojai was granted to Don Fernando
Tico in 1837 who established his rancho, but with the coming of statehood
much of that vast land became available. A renowned chef from Italy,
Antonio Riva, 
born on the island of Corsica, who had made his reputation
in the kitchens of Paris and London, had crossed the oceans to San
Francisco in the late 1800s. Much like the urbanites of today who envision
retiring
to open a winery, he acquired a piece of the old Don Tico Rancho with
the climate of his Mediterranean homeland to grow his own vines. Riva
continued making wine on his ranch until 1942 using the gravity fed
system. In the 1920’s during prohibition, he kept up his wine business
by having his customers leave money on a clothesline and later return
to collect their red wine in a non-descript jug left at the base of an
oak tree.
In
1976, the Maitland family bought the property to revitalize the old
ranch, planting vines. The vintages began in 1981 with many awards
to
follow. Mike Maitland was a record company executive and Carmel Maitland
posed for the original label. She still adorns the wall of the tasting
room and can be taken home as a poster. The Old Creek Ranch Winery
is owned by John and Carmel Whitman and their wines continue to win
awards
continuing the family own label’s tradition. Though at the Old
Creek Ranch, two wine labels share the barrel house. In 2007, when
their wine master retired, John Whitman made local winemaker Michael
Meagher
an offer he couldn’t refuse. 
A graduate of the unique Oenology
Degree program of U.C. Davis. Meagher would oversee the Old Creek Ranch
vintages and also make wines for his own label Vino V. The partnership
has proved a real success. The winery’s grapes are not grown
on the property due to a blight which struck
a few years ago, but from leases at premium vineyards in Santa Ynez,
Santa Barbara County and Napa Valley. The wines from Old
Creek Ranch focus on styles from the south of France, Spain and Italy
with the Sangiovese of particular interest, along with the Petit Syrah
and the fruity Spanish Albarino. Tours of the winemaking area can usually
be had, mostly by asking.
Visting Old Creek Ranch Winery
The Old Creek Ranch Winery is open daily from 11 am to 5 pm with the tasting room attached to the winery facility in the midst of the ranch orchard. Tables outdoors on the red wood patio and among the trees allow for a visitors to bring picnic lunches to go along with wine purchased at the tasting room, though be prepared for some of the family’s friendly pet pooches who roam the farm to express a curiosity. © Bargain Travel West
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Web Info
Old
Creek Ranch
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See these other articles on Bargain Travel West:
OJAI & THE SECRET GARDEN BY JEEP
THE LAVENDER INN BED & BREAKFAST
OJAI MUSIC FESTIVAL – NEW LIBBEY BOWL
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