De Tierra Vineyards Sold

March 22, 2023 – De Tierra owners Dan McDonnal and Alix Bosch have sold the brand, along with the tasting room operation in Carmel, to Jeff Meacham and Andrew Schoenfeld. The Russell Vineyard at Corral de Tierra remains in the hands of Anna Russell. 

The deal closes this week, but customers probably won’t notice a big change.

“We plan to stay on and keep the tasting room going as usual,” says McDonnal. “Not a lot will change: the new owners have contracted both me and Alix to stay on, continuing doing what we have been doing for almost 5 years now. We are happy about that! We love De Tierra Vineyards and love what we do.” 

The dogs, who feature prominently in the tasting room experience and on labels dedicated to fundraising, won’t notice anything different, either. 

Milestones often mark big next steps. De Tierra celebrates its 25^th anniversary this year. It was in 1998 that Merlot vines were first planted by organic pioneer Tom Russell at the 40-acre Russell Vineyard in Corral de Tierra. McDonnal and Bosch realized that after 5 years at the helm, they wanted to restructure their relationship with the business. Last fall, they put it out into the universe that they wanted to sell the winery. 

Meacham and his wife Deirdre (Dee)—who live in Pleasant Hill—have a special connection to De Tierra. “Dee and I have long loved Monterey and Carmel and had a connection with De Tierra dating back to when it was owned by Anna Russell. Dee and I decided to get re-married in Carmel back in 2017, and during our planning trips to the area found De Tierra. From our first visit, we fell in love with the wines and quaintness of the tasting room. We loved it so much we held an event in the tasting room for our friends and family attending our wedding!” 

Long into wine, Meacham and Schoenfeld—who lives in Redmond, Wash. with his wife Becky—have been working together as business partners for more than 25 years, successfully starting and running businesses in both high-tech and retail. Schoenfeld created a consumer wine-marketing company called Wine Gnomes, working with multiple wineries in Napa Valley to enhance wine club members’ experience. 

For his part, Meacham has been attending winemaking courses at UC Davis to increase his knowledge of Viticulture, and Enology. In tandem, he and Dee have been doing a lot of traveling in their RV over the last couple of years, spending time at various wineries in Oregon and California, getting to know the owners. Listening to their stories, he began dreaming of the next chapter in his life.

“Andrew and I began looking for our next opportunity and knew it would be in the wine industry,” says Meacham. “We were looking for land and/or business for sale in the industry and came across a listing for a winery in Carmel-by-the-Sea. I told Andrew, ‘If it’s De Tierra for sale, it was meant to be!’ and here we are today!” 

On a recent visit to the De Tierra tasting room in a significantly less-tree’d Carmel, thanks to the recent storms, which wreaked havoc on the local Cypress and pines, McDonnal and Bosch expressed surprise that their quest to find a buyer was such a short one. “It was a big surprise, but we feel it’s a great fit,” McDonal admitted. 

“Jeff and Andrew are really excited about De Tierra, and they’ve been very active in the wine business,” Bosch added. “They have a vision for the place that’s aligned with ours.”

They feel confident that their vision for creating more Euro style wines will remain intact. “I lived in Provence for 10 years,” says Bosch. “I tend to like the earthy, less fruit-forward style of wine. My palate goes for Bandol, the Loire style of Cab Franc, the wines of Piedmonte, especially Barolo. When I moved back to California, I was shocked by the high alcohol fruit bomb style! When I discovered De Tierra, I immediately joined the wine club!”  

Little did she know that a few years later, she would end up owning the brand. She had developed a friendship with Anna Russell, Tom’s daughter, and McDonal, being in the Ag business, had known Russell since 1984, so acquiring De Tierra in 2018 seemed a natural progression. 

Many things have changed since then. They used to make their wines at Joyce, but in 2020, moved their operations to Pessagno Winery, where winemaker, Olivier Rousseau, currently makes their wine.  

“We do all the blending,” says Bosch. “We tell our winemaker what we like, and each wine is made separately. We like to pick grapes between 23 and 25 Brix.” They don’t use a lot of new oak, as is very evident in the 2018 Tondre Grapefield Pinot Noir, which was made by Tony Craig at Silver Mountain in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where Craig makes the Tondre wines for the Allarid’s, as well as his own wine brand, Sonnet. Done in all neutral, it conveys aromas of red plum and spice, so typical of this vineyard, offering up pomegranate and cherry on the mouthwatering palate. 

The 2017 De Tierra Russell Vineyard Merlot is definitely showing its maturity, but still has that French garrigue that makes it stand out. They made a Provencal style Merlot rosé from the Russell Vineyard in 2019, but skipped vintages 20 through 22. They plan to make it again in 2023. “We have lots of new stuff coming,” says McDonal. “There’s a new label design and lots more wines, including Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cab Franc.” 

Catering to Bosch’s love of rosé and the French style of Pinot Gris, they have two new bottlings, each set off by stunning floral artwork done by McDonnal. One has roses and the other, white flowers. 

The 2018 De Tierra Cabernet Franc is another example of that Euro style that some might find too earthy and savory, but it really nails the green olive notes and tarragon, with plentiful pine. The tannins are still plenty grippy, and it’s evolving nicely. 

We finished with the 2018 Frannin Red Wine Blend, which features the two winery dogs on the label. The proceeds go to South County Animal Rescue. Made from 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33.3% Petite Sirah (from the Pedregal Vineyard in Paicines), and 16.7% Merlot, this wine was just bottled. 

“It’s a really good wine,” says McDonnal. “Most wineries might put their lesser lots into blends, but this is meant to be a $45 bottle, for a good cause.”  While earthy and savory in the nose, it is really very fresh on the palate, with the Petite Sirah taking center stage, singing an aria of juiciness. It might be a while until the other varieties get a word in edgewise. That’s the beauty of wine: it’s always changing. 

They also have a 2021 Frannin White, a blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc from San Saba. “Dan likes oaky Chardonnays, but I don’t,” says Bosch. “And neither one of us likes really grassy Sauvignon Blanc, so we had fun dialing this one in. We started with 70-30, then 80-20 and arrived at 90-10!”  She does love Sancerre, in case you’re wondering. 

We asked Meacham what he and Schoenfeld hoped to achieve with their new purchase. Would they make lots of changes? Yes and no. 

“We wish to pay tribute to the legacy of De Tierra Vineyards with our continued close partnership with the Russell Vineyards where De Tierra’s founder Tom Russell planted our first varietals in 1998. We see tremendous potential in De Tierra Vineyards and look forward to shepherding it into its next chapter, sharing our passion for wine and bringing new excitement to the tasting room. 

To that end, we’ve already begun by bottling new varietals that we plan to introduce to our Club Members and into our tasting flights in the second quarter. Further, we’re launching into new partnerships in the community and have several events planned that we cannot wait to announce! Beyond that we have many exciting plans for the future of De Tierra!” 

Stay tuned.