When Dr. Thomas Fogarty first planted vines on Skyline Boulevard in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the late 1970s, California was still in its winemaking adolescence. The Judgment of Paris had only just thrust Napa into the spotlight. Chardonnay was beginning to dominate, Cabernet Sauvignon was fast becoming king, and Zinfandel was holding on as California’s heritage grape. Pinot Noir, meanwhile, was still a whispered promise—a grape so fickle, so fragile, that many thought it would never thrive here.

But Pinot Noir captured hearts precisely because it was elusive. For those who dared to plant it, the grape became an obsession: a puzzle to be solved, a muse that rewarded patience with haunting beauty.

For centuries in Burgundy, Pinot Noir had been revered as the “heartbreak grape.” Its thin skins and sensitivity to climate made it difficult to farm. A touch too much sun, and the wines became flabby; a few degrees too cool, and they struggled to ripen. But when grown in the right place, Pinot Noir revealed itself as something extraordinary—delicate yet profound, transparent yet complex.

California’s early pioneers were captivated by this paradox. They believed that with the right soils, the right microclimates, and relentless curiosity, Pinot Noir could find a true home on the West Coast.

While Napa and Sonoma drew the most attention in the late 20th century, the Santa Cruz Mountains quietly offered something different. Its steep ridges, marine influences, and varied soils provided conditions uncannily suited to Pinot Noir. Yet it was a rugged and risky place to plant vineyards. Accessibility was difficult. Farming costs were high. The rewards were far from guaranteed.

Dr. Fogarty, a renowned cardiovascular surgeon and inventor, was undeterred. He was drawn to challenges. In Pinot Noir, he saw a grape much like the work he pursued in medicine: demanding precision, rewarding persistence, and offering moments of profound beauty when everything came together.

In the early 1980s, Thomas Fogarty Winery began producing its first wines. Chardonnay led the way, earning accolades for its balance and minerality. But Pinot Noir quickly became a defining thread in the estate’s story. The vineyards at high elevation—Rapley Trail, Windy Hill, and others—proved uniquely capable of producing Pinot Noir that was structured, nuanced, and expressive of place.

These weren’t Pinot Noirs trying to mimic Burgundy, nor were they chasing the ripeness of California’s warmer valleys. They were something else: wines that spoke of fog, sandstone, shale, and altitude; wines that balanced mountain intensity with elegance.

Over the last 45 years, California has undergone a Pinot Noir renaissance. In the 1980s and 90s, many producers pursued riper, bigger styles, shaped by California’s sunshine and by critics who rewarded boldness. But by the 2000s, a shift was underway. Winemakers began to seek restraint, freshness, and site expression. The idea of terroir—long a Burgundian concept—took root in California, too.

Pinot Noir was at the heart of this change. It became the grape through which California expressed nuance. Regions like Russian River Valley, Santa Lucia Highlands, Sta. Rita Hills, and the Santa Cruz Mountains each developed distinct Pinot voices.

For Thomas Fogarty Winery, this evolution felt like validation. The Pinots we had been making all along—site-driven, structured, elegant—were now exactly what many wine lovers were craving.

To work with Pinot Noir is to fall in love over and over again. Every vintage brings new challenges. Spring frost, summer heat spikes, autumn rains—all test the limits of the grape. But when the fruit comes in just right, the result is transcendent.

Pinot Noir demands attention in the vineyard, patience in the cellar, and humility from the winemaker. It doesn’t tolerate shortcuts. But it rewards devotion with aromas of red berries, rose petals, earth, and spice—flavors that are at once ethereal and unforgettable.

At Fogarty, Pinot Noir has always been more than just a wine we make. It is the lens through which we see our vineyards. It is the grape that challenges us to do better every year. It is our love story, written vintage after vintage.

Each of our estate vineyards brings something unique to Pinot Noir:

• Rapley Trail Vineyard: Produces powerful, structured Pinot Noir with deep fruit and earthy complexity.
  
• Windy Hill Vineyard: High elevation and exposed; gives delicate, perfumed wines with floral notes and bright acidity.
  
• Mindego Ridge (partner vineyard): Balanced, elegant Pinot Noir with a silky texture and minerality.
  

Together, these sites allow us to paint with a broad palette—showing just how diverse and expressive Pinot Noir can be when matched with the right terroir.

Today, under winemaker Nathan Kandler and the Fogarty family’s continued stewardship, Pinot Noir remains at the core of our identity. We’ve learned so much in four decades: how to farm more sustainably, how to coax nuance from each block, how to balance tradition with innovation.

The world of wine has changed dramatically since 1981. Consumers are more curious, more adventurous, more interested in authenticity. And Pinot Noir has gone from a niche pursuit to one of California’s crown jewels. Through it all, Thomas Fogarty Winery has stayed true to its north star: crafting wines of place, wines of elegance, wines that tell the story of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Pinot Noir is not just a wine you drink. It’s an experience. It’s the glass that sparks conversation, the bottle you open with family, the wine that lingers in memory long after the last sip.

For someone new to Thomas Fogarty Winery, Pinot Noir is the perfect introduction. It captures the essence of who we are: committed to the land, passionate about craft, and endlessly curious about what’s possible.

When you visit our estate and taste a Pinot Noir overlooking Silicon Valley, you taste not just the grape but the history of a place and the devotion of people who have pursued this love story for 45 years.

As California wine continues to evolve, Pinot Noir will remain both our challenge and our joy. We believe the Santa Cruz Mountains are among the finest places in the world to grow this grape. And we believe that every vintage is another chance to fall in love again.

So here’s to Pinot Noir—the heartbreak grape, the muse, the love of our lives. And here’s to the next chapter of Thomas Fogarty Winery’s story, which we hope you’ll share with us in the near future.