Last month, Matt Wentz graduated from U.C. Davis with a Bachelor of Science degree in viticulture and enology, the science of grape growing and winemaking. It was a small graduating class. “They only accept 20 students a year into the program,” Wentz explained.

But unlike many of his fellow graduates who will now be scrambling to find jobs, Wentz already has one. He has been the vineyard manager at Lucchesi Vineyards and Winery since 2003. Many people are familiar with Lucchesi tasting room located next to The Del Oro Theatre in Grass Valley but the 16-acre vineyard and winery are located off of Rattlesnake Road a few miles away.

Wentz had family connections in Nevada County and moved here in 1996. He attended and graduated from Nevada Union in 2000, going on to Sierra College to study mechanical engineering. But in the summer of 2001 his dad was building a barn for Mario Clough, owner of Lucchesi Vineyards, and Wentz got a job doing some weed eating.

Mario had just planted the steeply rolling vineyard the year before and there was much that needed doing. Wentz has quick memories of his first vineyard job, tying the vines to the stakes, remembering, “it was a lot of work.”

He continued school at Sierra but he also continued to work in the vineyard, pruning, training and always, tying up the vines. Slowly, little by little, a transformation occurred. “I liked being outside, I liked working in the garden and this was just a big garden. Besides calculus was getting really hard.”

Then, late in 2003 the current vineyard manager left and Mario offered the job to Wentz. It was a life changing moment. He made a commitment to grapes and viticulture. He changed his major and applied to Davis. And, he admits, made a few mistakes figuring out what to do in the vineyard.

“I knew enough to be dangerous. I was 20 years old. It's one thing to tell the workers what to do, the important part is to be sure they respect what you're telling them.” At Davis he focused first on viticulture classes. This was no academic ivory tower, he was applying what he was learning on a regular basis.

Lucchesi produces 3,000 to 4,000 cases a year and they want all their fruit to be estate grown. But what they were selling didn't exactly match what they're growing. One of Wentz's first major jobs was to manage the transition of grafting over to the varieties they needed. He added five Port varieties, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Petit Verdot and Petite Sirah as well as changing the way they grew Syrah.

If Gold Medals are a way to keep score, Wentz is doing just fine. Lucchesi just won Double Gold and Best of Class awards at the El Dorado County Fair for their 2006 Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon as well as an armload of Golds at various competitions. “I grew those grapes,” Wentz explained, “I'm pretty proud of that.”

A tasting of Lucchesi wines

A famous winemaker once stated that 80 percent of winemaking happens in the vineyard. That is not to disrespect any winemaker, because in spite of the saying that great wines make themselves, they really don't. It takes a winemaker at the helm guiding the process, knowing when to interfere and when to stay out of the way.

Most winemakers will agree that while great grapes make the process of making great wine infinitely easier, inferior grapes make it impossible to produce great wine. Or, to put it another way, you can't do great work without great materials. Just ask a chef.

Looking at the dazzling number of awards Lucchesi has won so far this year it's apparent that Matt Wentz's grape growing skills combined with Kristen Varten's winemaking talent are a force to notice. I recently had the opportunity to taste through some of their current releases. All of the following are Gold Medal winners or better.

The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc offers aromas of grapefruit, lemon-lime and exotic passion fruit. It's medium-bodied with a dry, fruity finish.

The 2007 Chardonnay offers buttery notes with softly toasted oak highlights and a creamy mouthfeel.

The 2006 Cabernet Franc is one more testament to how well Franc does in our area. This wine offers aromas of berries and hints of spice with herbal highlights within an elegant, medium-bodied frame with just a suggestion of tannin on the finish.

The 2006 Syrah is full-bodied and very fruit forward with flavors of blackberry jam on vanilla toast balanced with a soft grip of tannin on the finish.

Although quite different from each other, what unites these wines is that they are all nicely balanced with well-defined flavors and varietal character. More restrained alcohol levels in the mid 14% range helps as well. It's terrific to see such good wines coming from our local winemaking community.

Rod Byers, a certified wine educator, teaches wine classes at Sierra College and is a California State Certified Wine Judge. He can be reached by e-mail at wineonpine@sbcglobal.net or by phone at (530) 913-3703.