June 20, 2023 – When winemaker Bobby Graviano left Bargetto earlier this year to concentrate on his work with Vidovich on Monte Bello Road, he had also signed on as winemaker with John Ritchie’s former client, Nicholson Vineyards in Corralitos. However, his subsequent involvement in a new project in Morgan Hill, made that impossible, so he tapped his winemaking colleague Ellie Loustalot to take the reins on that one.
“The way everything played out was amazing!” says Marguerite Nicholson, who spoke to us while on the way to Disneyland with her daughter and grandchildren. “We love Bobby so much, and we are so excited that he has this opportunity in Morgan Hill. Ellie had visited us previously and was so excited about the winery.
She’s amazing, such a good winemaker! We liked everything we tried, and equally important, she loves our wines and will match our style. She will improve our operations and it will be a great learning experience: we’re super excited to work with her!”
Graviano says that while he was really looking forward to the Nicholson project, the opportunity to create a new winery and tasting room from the ground up is incredibly compelling. And he knows Loustalot is ready to jump in on the Nicholson project, following her wedding and honeymoon. She is due to begin August 1.
Santa Cruz born and raised, Ellie Loustalot majored in viticulture and enology at Cal Poly, interning at Bargetto for winemaker Bobby Graviano in 2015. During her junior year, she got a job in the Ancient Peaks tasting room, which led her to a position in the cellar in 2017. She eventually became the winery’s enologist in 2019.
Loustalot subsequently took a position as assistant winemaker at Scheid in 2022, and is involved with the Grandeurproject. More on that another time. She’s getting married on June 25, so she’s a little busy.
Says Nicholson, “Ellie clearly loves having her hands on the fruit! She works for an amazing winery now (Scheid). We’ve worked really hard on the operations side, so it’s nice to have someone who matches our energy on the production side.”
Nicholson says the winery is increasing volume to a bit more than 2,500 cases this year: hopefully, that will meet demand. “We’ve been running short on wine,” she says. They will source Viognier and Sangiovese from Gemelli Vineyard in Hollister, and Zin and Barbera from Plymouth, in the heart of Amador County.
“This year, we also hope to get SCM Pinot from nearby Hicks Vineyard, where we’ve sourced fruit for the last two years. We hope to get some SCM Syrah as well: it’s not firm yet, but we love SCM Syrah!” They are also pulling Petite Sirah from Machado Creek in Morgan Hill.
Nicholson says they are super grateful for this turn of events, which coincides with a refresh of their look. Gone is the peacock feather. She says it was time to share “a more relevant representation of who we are currently.” With a family heritage that goes back 11 generations in California, and with grandchildren playing in the vineyards and their children now involved in the business, the future looks bright.
“We just released our new logo and branding,” says Nicholson. “We worked with San Francisco designer, Chanda Williams, and we absolutely love her. She created a beautiful emblem for us that represents the evolution of Nicholson Vineyards. It’s a nod to the past and our heritage. The grape and olive foliage is a visual depiction of our contribution to the land and represents our sense of place. The bold ‘N’ reiterates that our family is central to it all.”
Williams has done branding and logo work for a host of wineries, including Acorn, Bricoleur, Joel Gott, Lambert Bridge, Lokoya and Sequana, for which James MacPhail made excellent SLH Pinot Noir when it was under the Hess Collection.
Nicholson says they’ve just updated their entire irrigation system, and added 200 new vines to replace existing ones. She says the vines hadn’t even begun to flower yet in this persistent cool fog. That said, if the weather cooperates, she thinks the crop will be a good one. They also have five custom varieties of olives, specifically selected for their flavor profiles. The club gets the resulting oil, which is processed at 43 Ranch in San Ardo.
But, it’s all up to Mother Nature now, admits Nicholson. “At this point, I am a bit concerned about heat and sun.”
About the author
Laura Ness is a longtime wine journalist, columnist and judge who contributes regularly to Edible Monterey Bay, Spirited, WineOh.Tv, Los Gatos Magazine and Wine Industry Network, and a variety of consumer publications. Her passion is telling stories about the intriguing characters who inhabit the fascinating world of wine and food.
