We had the pleasure this week of going to Joullian Vineyards, a boutique winery perched at 1400 feet in elevation in the mountains of Carmel Valley. It's a beautiful drive past Carmel Valley Village to the 23.3 mile marker, turn right and go 1.3 miles on Tassajara Road, then another right to 20300 Cachagua Road, another 1.9 miles. Here, beyond Joullian's gates are grown some of the richest and most flavorful wines in California including Carmel Valley's only Zinfandel.

To taste their wines, however, you need go no further than Carmel Valley Village where Joullian this past week celebrated the official opening of its new Village Tasting Room in the Joseph DeMaria building of classical design, located ½ block south of Carmel Valley Road at 2 Village Drive, Suite A. Hours are 11am to 5pm - daily.

Carmel Valley is one of America's smallest and most unique winegrowing appellations. Joullian Vineyards was created here by the Joullian and Sias Families of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with the goal of producing estate crafted wines with the power, finesse and ageability that always characterizes the finest wines throughout the world.

Recognizing the need for estate control, the partnership embarked upon a long-term plan to develop the unique combination of land, vineyards and winery facilities necessary for fine wine production.

Early in 1981 the families purchased 655 acres of hillside benchland, elevation 1,400 feet, in the heart of the Carmel Valley viticulture appellation.

In 1984, following extensive contouring and terracing, 40 acres of high density spaced vines were planted in the rocky, Arroyo Seco series loam. Two-thirds of the vineyard was allocated to the Bordeaux varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Semillon. The remaining 13 acres were allotted to Chardonnay, and a small amount of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. Several clones of each varietal were used to provide added complexity to the four resulting wines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Zinfandel.

The winery, completed in the spring of 1991, has been designed to handle each vineyard block separately, and thus insure that the complex subtleties and nuances produced in the field can be transferred into the bottle.

Joullian Vineyards and estate winery is now open to the public for seasonal events.