**Winemaker Damien Georis’ produced several critically-acclaimed vintages of Cabernet Franc wines, using grapes grown in the Paicines area of San Benito County.
For nearly 15 years, Damien Georis created wines at Walter Georis’ eponymous label as well as at Madeleine, Damien’s own winery.
Future bottlings from Madeleine are unlikely, as Damien now works in home design and construction at Lewis Builders.**
Back Country Wines
“Georgis Winery, Carmel Valley”
by Deborah Passin
"…[Walter Georis] owns a winery, a vineyard, three restaurants and a record label. He is an artist, musician and grape grower. Fortunately he had the sense to hire a winemaker as he couldn’t possibly master one more thing! And it’s an interesting story how he found his winemaker, Damien Georis (no relation), an import from Bordeaux.
"…As for how Walter met his winemaker…do you believe in fate? Damien shared his unique story with me recently. He had been making wine at Chateau Olivier, a Grand Cru classé of the Graves region in Bordeaux. An American wine importer visiting the chateau saw Damien’s last name and asked if he was related to Walter Georis, a Monterey County resident. Damien told me, ‘I knew of Monterey because Jimi Hendricks played there, but I didn’t know Walter.’
“Damien learned that the Georis family planted a vineyard in 1982 in the Carmel Valley and started making wine. When Walter reached out to him by phone, the two discovered they had both come from the same small town in Belgium. Thus a friendship was born. They didn’t actually meet in person until two years later. And a couple years after that, Walter extended a job offer to Damien, who was just days away from signing a contract on the purchase of a home in Bordeaux. Damien came to Carmel Valley instead…”.
Carmel Magazine
“Raising a Glass to Walter Georis: Family Owned Carmel Valley Winery Turns 40”
by Michael Chatfield
Winter 2020
"In 1980, restaurateur/entrepreneur Walter Georis purchased a 40-acre historic cattle ranch in the rustic Cachagua region of Carmel Valley. Much of it was an ancient river bottom and full of the smooth, fist-sized river rocks that Georis calls, ‘Cachagua potatoes’. It is precisely this type of soil that fine wine grapevines thrive in. It’s difficult to farm and hard on equipment, but it makes the vines struggle. And that’s a good thing.
“‘The Cachagua area was kind of rough then,’ Georis says, ‘the last of the Wild West. The land itself was challenging. Rototilling is hard work here and water is always an issue.’
"Walter Georis has always been a hands-on winery owner.
“‘I drove the tractor,’ he says. ‘I pruned the vines for 20 years. I spent a lot of time out there, because I believe that wine is made in the vineyard, not the winery.’ In fact, he was also the winemaker for 16 years.
"Georis was the second to stake out a vineyard in the area, after Bill Durney did so on a neighboring property in 1968. His first planting of Bordeaux clones did not survive, due to an inexperienced vineyard manager. Live and learn.
“‘The next year we planted again - Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot - our first release was the 1983 vintage,’ Georis recalls. Since Durney has undergone two ownership changes, Georis Winery is now the oldest Carmel Valley wine operation under the same proprietor."
"…In the early 2000s, son Klaus was surfing the internet and found a surprise. ‘He found a winemaker named Damien Georis in France,’ his father says. ‘I contacted him, and we met up in Paris on our next trip there.’
“They found that they were from nearby Belgian villages and immediately bonded. Georis invited him to Carmel and the winemaker decided to make this his home. He stayed with the company for more than a decade, helping to build the Georis brand and add Cowgirl and Endless Summer labels to the Georis portfolio. Greg Freeman, formerly of Hahn Family Wines, came on board recently. His first vintage will be 2019…”.
Most Recent Releases:
· Georis 2017 Cabernet Franc, Paicines
· Madeleine “Chaiptre X: Capitaine Fou”, Paicines Cabernet Franc
Georis Winery website:
https://www.georiswine.com/
Madeleine Wine website:
https://www.madeleinewine.com/
