(Wines&Vines) - More than a year ago winemaker Fintan du Fresne and his production team at Chamisal Vineyards had a lengthy post-harvest meeting, during which they discussed the winery’s future.

Du Fresne knew that if he and the rest of the team didn’t set a vision for the next 10 years, it would be set by the changing winds of the wine market or some other exterior force. “We really started looking at where we wanted Chamisal to be in the long term,” he told Wines & Vines.

The property already had a long history of winemaking in California’s Central Coast. Originally planted under the Chamisal Vineyard name in 1972, the property was the first in the Edna Valley planted to vines. Silicon Valley entrepreneur Terry Speizer purchased what had become a dormant property in 1994, built a new winery and replanted the vineyard with a focus on Pinot Noir.