Good Day Sacramento: Hill Top Oaks Winery
Watch the clip by Good Day Sacramento.
Interview with Ron Feist
1. The work and know-how that goes into creating a wine is no small thing, it takes years of practice, understanding, and mastery. That being said, you’ve obviously helped bring life to many different wines, so what is it exactly that makes the Hill Top Oaks product special? What makes Hill Top Oaks products so special is the fact that all of our wines are handcrafted. Every step of the winemaking process is carried out by a family member of the Winery. There are dozens of steps involved in making quality wines. It is our unique process of conducting each of these steps personally, with high-quality wine as our goal, that allows for the incredible results our winery has experienced. 2. In your experience, for a clear idea of the stress that is involved in your craft, what has been the hardest aspect of winemaking year in and year out? The goal being high quality for each virial we produce and with so many steps involved, the stress and challenge is to perform each step at the correct time, with the right chemistry, and with the appropriate quantities of ingredients. We have developed notebooks/logs for every key step in the winemaking process. Nothing is left to chance. Every decision is carefully thought out and executed. It takes a lot of work and thought to make sure each step is on target. 3. Similar to your business partner, Mark Davis, you no doubt have a story of how you came to be involved in the wine industry. However, your skill set would suggest you got here differently. Simply put, what is your background in wine? Being a Minnesota farm boy, agriculture has always been important to me. Wine is an agriculture process. I lived in the Napa Valley for five years and developed an appreciation for fine wines as a consumer. Winemaking is both an art and a science. Having a BA and MS in the physical sciences and teaching science for eight years gives me the chemistry and physics background necessary to work with winemaking. Mark Davis approached me because he knew of my science background. There is a tremendous amount of chemistry involved in making wine. My goal has always been to make high quality wine that I would personally like to drink, and which others would enjoy as well. The HTO team has done just that, as has been validated by the numerous awards we have won from qualified judges in several completions. 4. The Davis family played an integral role in creating and designing Hill Top Oaks. Did the family play a part in deciding on the aim of the finished products palate and aroma? If so, how did you all reach a consensus on the ‘ingredients’ to use? Most decisions are as family. As a group, we decided which grapes to purchase, as you cannot make good wine without high quality grapes. We work together to process the grapes through the various steps of the winemaking process. Once we get the wine in the oak barrels, on a monthly basis, at least two of us work on the chemistry and at least two of us are tasting the wine to determine what , if any, adjustments we need to make. Our red wines are aged in oak for two years. This means quality control activities have taken place over 20 times in the life of the wine. About two months before bottling, family members and special guests bench taste the wines and get several thoughts and views on the quality and drinkability. Minor adjustments are made, if necessary, based on the input of several people. We also have lab reports and sometimes data from competition judges available to us. 5. Hill Top Oaks is an award-winning wine. As your tasting room and production facility complete construction, does the team have any plans for new varietals to introduce to the public and to future competitions? The future is sometimes hard to determine. We have focused the past few years on two different chardonnays, and about 4-5 reds. We are a handcrafted winery. Thus, we need to be careful we have the hands for each varietal to produce quality wine. Chardonnay, Cab Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Zinfandel have been our award winners over the past few years. I think, for the time being, those are the wines we will stick with. Most wine drinkers find that one of these wines fits their taste. We will be adding Syrah to our list because of the availability of quality grapes near the Winery, though it won’t be available for two years. With the combination of grapes we have available, we could be adding a high quality blend or two in the future, especially since blends are becoming more popular with the wine drinking public. We will continue to enter the wines we make into competitions. It is important to know what a panel of judges think of our wines. 6. Perhaps more than anyone involved with Hill Top Oaks, you’re aware of just how competitive the California wine market is. What is it about this winery that sets it apart from competitors and could make it a prime destination for those traversing the wine country? Selling wine is a very competitive business. It is yet to be determined how successful we will be in such a competitive world. It is my belief that the quality of our wines, coupled with the price we will be asking for, will makes Hill Top Oaks a great buy. Because I am an old man and have been drinking wine for many years, by experience, I know what quality wine is and I also know when you are just paying a lot for a name. When people come to our tasting room, they will taste the quality and see the price and know they are making a good buy and experiencing an exceptional product. As far as a prime destination, time will
Interview with Mark Davis
1. First and foremost, what is your role with Hill Top Oaks and what does your position entail? I would say I oversee (manage) the entire operation. From the vineyard duties, sourcing extra grapes, buying equipment or sourcing winery equipment, assisting with winemaking, planning for the inventory of bottles, corks, capsules, labels, yeasts, and chemicals. Scheduling seasonal crush dates, bottling dates, and grape press dates. Also, I help with a lot of the cleanup… 2. The name Mark Davis is well-known in and around the Sacramento community, primarily for your company’s work on some of the areas top restaurants, wineries, healthcare facilities, etc. Given the success of Sierra View, why is it you decided to break into the wine market? Building several wineries over the past 10 years, I was always intrigued by winemaking and the wine business. In the summer of 2016, I ran into a contractor friend of mine (sometimes a competitor ) in Granite Bay who shared some of the wine he had made. I was very impressed with his wine. He encouraged me to join the Sacramento Home Wine Makers Group, which I did, to learn to make wine with his help. 3. Whether or not an individual is intrigued by and/or knowledgeable of the industry, it’s common knowledge that California is one of the world’s foremost producers and distributors of wine. That being the case, how has Hill Top Oaks approached marketing its existence and operation in this very saturated market? We are not that far along yet. We only recently received our ABC license in the past 30 days to start selling wine. Our plan is to start out slow and just sell directly to consumers. We hope to stay a boutique winery producing great wines and create a following of wine customers. 4. Behind every label is a story, and the intricate, detailed labels that represent the Hill Top Oaks wine beg the question of their inspiration. How is it that the designs for your wines came about in the first place? Back in the mid 60’s we were raising registered shorthorn cattle on our property. My mother came up with “Hill Top Oaks” as the name for our cattle ranch. When I was cleaning out our barn a couple of years back to make room for the winery I came across an old sign of our cattle ranch and I thought it would be appropriate to keep the same name as the cattle ranch. Each label has a story that we can share when people come to taste our wines. 5. Sierra View General Contracting is a proud family business. Will the same be said for Hill Top Oaks, or will it be more of a personal passion project of yours? This is both a passion and a family affair. My wife, kids, and in-laws are all involved in the winemaking operation. Hopefully, one of our younger generation family members will develop a passion for winemaking and want to continue where we left off. 6. Hill Top Oaks provides a quaint and classic ambiance that many wine enthusiasts search for when visiting a winery. Is it your hope to always provide that very atmosphere, or do you have hopes of expanding your tasting room, production, and operations over time? We have a very unique setting, being located on a hilltop with views of the Sierra Mountain Range on the east side and the Sacramento valley and coastal range line on the west side. We are in the middle of converting our sixty-year-old cattle barn into a production winery which will be spectacular once completed. I can confidently say that because I am married to the architect that has designed some amazing projects in the past. Our goal at Hill Top Oaks is to wow our customers with our wines, our winery, and our views and sunsets we can offer and keep them coming back for more. 7. Now, for the obvious question that’s on everyone’s mind; of the varietals Hill Top Oaks offers, which one is your most preferred, and why? People ask me all the time; “What is your favorite wine you make?” That’s like asking, who is your favorite kid? We have four by the way. My first response is always ”my favorite wine is the one I’m holding in my hand”. I do prefer our Bordeaux style reds, Cabernet Sav., Merlot, and Cab Franc. They all have their own unique characteristics which I enjoy very much.
Interview with Amy Davis
1. Similar to your business partners, you no doubt have a story of how you came to be involved in the wine industry. However, your skill set would suggest you got here differently. Simply put, what is your background in wine? The 2022 harvest season will be my third as the assistant winemaker. I jumped in to help my Father Ron Feist with the 2020 harvest. I am a commercial architect, and my primary clients are restaurant owners. My workload completely stopped during the Covid shutdown – no one wanted to open a new restaurant. I didn’t have a clue of what I was getting into, I just thought it would be great to spend time with my dad. My role up until this point with Hill Top Oaks was a helping hand during harvest and event planning. After my first harvest, I fell in love with wine-making. To pursue my passion, I enrolled at UC Davis’s 2-year program to become a certified winemaker. 2. In your experience, what is the most fun part of winemaking? Cap Management is by far my favorite task in winemaking. I know now that it is the second most important decision we make (when to harvest is the first). Yes, there is lack of sleep, and my arms are exhausted, however, it is the wonderful aroma I smell when I open the door to the production room first thing in the morning. We do cold soak our grapes for 2 to 3 days at 60 degrees before we start fermentation. Our wines are a Bordeaux style, our batches of wine are small and fermented in macro bins covered with a fermentation sheet. Since we are so small, we always use the punch down method for cap management. I love gently punching down the crusty cap and submerging it into the juice. I love watching the must get darker and deeper red as the days go by. To me this is where the magic happens. 3. Having an architectural background, I am assuming you were instrumental in the remodel the old cattle barn? My husband Mark and I both did. It was fun converting the old barn where he raised cattle during his youthful 4-H days into a Winery. We took off the old horizontal cedar siding and replaced it with a beautiful clear grain cedar. We replaced the windows and roll-up doors with ones with a wine-red color and added raw steel awnings over the doors. The old cattle stall floorboards and cedar walls were sanded down and kept in place. To add a touch of elegance I replace the existing lighting with beautiful rustic chandeliers having crystal champagne bubbles. We took the old hay loft and made it into a private cozy tasting room for our wine club members. Such a fun project to design. 4. This may seem like a loaded question, however, if you were to choose amongst the wines that Hill Top Oaks has to offer, which one is your absolute favorite? My favorite is our Butterfly Chardonnay. When we first started, we only made Bordeaux style red wines. I am a big smooth buttery chardonnay fan so when we had the opportunity to purchase great chardonnay grapes, Ron Feist took on the challenge. Each year the juice ages for 8-9 months in a new French oak barrel. The first year we bottled our Butterfly Chardonnay we got a double gold award. Yes, definitely this is my favorite and my second is our Bear’s Bubbly also made from Chardonnay grapes. 5. Now that you are hands on in the wine production do you have any plans for new varietals to introduce to the public and to future competitions? My father and I are working on a Rosé wine made from Grenache. The grapes are grown by our neighbor and so far it’s tasting great. We will release this wine in the winter of 2022. We are also going to release a new GSM Blend (Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre) at the same time.
2016 Bottling Party
It’s almost Halloween, why not dress up and bottle/drink wine? Our first bottling party was a huge success and we could not have done it without our family and friends. Labels were designed by Devin Davis, Heidi Smith, and Brennah Gurley. Cheers to many more awesome bottling parties!