Longboard Vineyards

Oded Shakked, owner of Longboard Vineyards, is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. He has been on the show before. His last appearance was this episode on November 17, 2023. He has a long history of making high quality wines from his small properties.

He grew up surfing in Israel and then, looking for good waves, he went to surf the Atlantic beaches. In France, he discovered wine, then he heard about UC Davis, came to study in the program and, “never looked back.” He had a series of winemaking jobs and started his own vineyard

On West Side Road he has about five acres where he grows about 40% of the grapes he uses at Longboard. His neighbors are the Rocchioli family, and their famous vineyard. He feels lucky that they sell some grapes to him. As neighbors, their kids played sports together.

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They begin tasting the Rocchioli Vineyard Chardonnay. He wants people to consider aging this white wine. A well-made white wine, not over-oaked and doesn’t have residual sugar, it gets a “sun-dried linen” character, as one of his professors described it.

They also taste a Syrah, which reminds Dan that all these wines need some time in the bottle. Wines are like cakes in the oven, says Oded. You have to have patience for the wine to develop complexity. Dan says that if you open it and taste it two days later, it can also open up a lot.

They have a cellar, a lounge and vineyard in Healdsburg. The place used to be the Magnolia Cannery, then it was Clos du Bois winery, and later under other brands. Oded says his job title could be “vinegar stopper” because wine will occur naturally and also turn quickly to vinegar if you’re not careful. You can actually observe their cellar operations and get close to the process.