When Pat and Tom Heineman purchased the property in 1980, opening a winery was not in their plans. They wanted to own some land “out in the country”. They chose the location for its beauty and feeling of serenity. As educators in the Livermore they met the couple who would later become their partners in the winery, Carol and Rich Howell. Pat and Carol were fellow elementary school principals in Livermore. The two couples shared many common interests including the enjoyment of good wines.

Daniel Gehrs Wines is a small, family owned and operated winery featuring small lots of hand-crafted wines. With over 30 years of experience, Daniel's wines are made in a classic old-world style that is exceptionally approachable to both novice and oenophile alike.
Daniel Gehrs Wines is the personal expression of winemaker Daniel Gehrs, whose vision of wine is simply this: “The holy grail of my winemaking is the taste of the grape on the day of harvest.” Dan hastens to add: “The first duty of a wine is to be interesting. Life is too short for boring wines”.

Ken Deaver stoops his broad shoulders to uncork a bottle of Zinfandel, wearing his trade- mark denims and cowboy hat, and you soon learn that Ken knows his wines. And his grapes. As you look upon Deaver’s 300 acres you will see 140-year-old Zinfindel vines and eight acres of Mission vines, so called because they were brought from Mexico by the Jesuits and Franciscans. The Deaver mission vines were planted around 1854 by Ken Deaver's great grandfather John A. Davis.

We tasted:
2008 Dry Creek Zin - Old vine zinfandel, fruity with oak notes. I tasted pomegranate with some spice. Very enjoyable (too bad there isn't much left!)
2008 Oak Hill Estate Zin - I liked this zin. The grapes are grown on property. Hints of vanilla & caramel with the fruit upon first whif. Then a very silky mouth feel with plum and spice. We all agreed this would pair well with eggplant or other roasted/grilled veggies.
2008 Calistoga Cab Sauvignon - The bottle we tasted had been opened late the day before which helped soften the tannins. Hints of cherry on the palate.
2006 Napa Valley Cab - I liked this more than the 2008 from Calistoga. It was balanced acidity/fruit.
2010 Michael's Muse - Delicious tawny port style wine that they had just bottled! Complex fruit, not too over-poweringly sweet. I think it had zin & petite syrah grapes (I wasn't paying as much attention). Very good!