San Francisco’s Wine Country at Mission and 3rd

Diablo Grande Wine Gallery

By Mary Swift-Swan

San Francisco’s first downtown wine tasting showcase may look like a small, quaint shop from the outside, but inside the front door, across stone tiles and past a plasma screen showing highlights of their four resort locations, is a very long wall of wine. The strong scent of the wine tasting room hits you immediately, and the stress of being in a city is gone in an instant. The sheer size of the main room is just one of the surprises in the two-level, 5,000-square-foot facility. In addition to the wall of wine, wine tasting stations, and tables, there is a vintners’ retail shop. The beautiful facility is designed to gracefully handle large meetings and events, both on the ground level and downstairs. The main room downstairs is completed, but two smaller rooms are being finished for more intimate gatherings. The lighting was designed to display artwork.

Diablo Grande Winery is located at 10001 Flat Oak Road in Patterson, in the hills of the I-5 corridor, 90 minutes southeast of San Francisco. This new California winery was nurtured and developed by Fran and Kathy Lightly. They both returned to school after selling their catering and event planning business. Fran has been interested in growing wines for many years, so he entered the vintner program at CSU Fresno in 1993, adding to his degree in chemistry. Because of his excellent work and maturity, he was invited to join a special project working with a Georgia vintner to graft vines and produce wines in Central Valley test soils. Kathy’s courses focused on the business side of running a winery. Upon Fran’s graduation, they were both asked to join the same Georgia wine producer by starting the Diablo Grande Winery. Kathy is now often present at the wine gallery in San Francisco, representing their winery and the parent company, Chateau Élan Winery and Resort of Braselton, Georgia. Fran tends to the vines and the general running of the winery, but usually joins Kathy and staff at the San Francisco shop on the weekends.

Chateau Élan Winery Resort is located just 40 minutes north of Atlanta. The elegant resort hosts visitors in over 300 rooms, suites, and villas; serves guests from eight restaurants; features two indoor and two outdoors pools, four world-class golf courses; an Equestrian Show Center, with trails and rentals; lighted tennis courts; a full-service European Spa, fitness center, nature, hiking and jogging trails; full volleyball and half basketball courts; a children’s playground; plus wine tasting and tours of the winery.

Using the successful models of the other three facilities, the grounds of Diablo Grande originally included 30,000 acres of property in the ridge country of the Central Valley. Diablo Grande Winery now has two vineyard sites. The original 1.5-acre test site next to the main golf course has been expanded to 20 acres. In 1998, they added 40 acres at a site previously owned by the Isom family, and now called Isom Ranch Winery, where the second golf course is located. "These vines produce nine Diablo Grande varietals and seven Isom Ranch varietals. Each location has different soil and climate characteristics, which they lend to each wine," Fran said. "I’ve concentrated on wines that are drinkable when young but that age well. The region is low in tannin, which makes for enjoyable wine upon release." It is obviously working, as they won double golds at a San Francisco competition for their first release of the 2000 Merlot. Their two Chardonnay wines have both won medals and proved to be quite popular. One is light and fruity and the other has an oaky flavor with butterscotch characteristics. Their 15 wines range in price from $13-$29 a bottle; a limited bottling of a special blend called Deep Purple by Chateau Élan’s owner costs $40.

Diablo Grande Resort currently has two golf courses that have already been voted among the top golf courses in the USA by Golf Digest and Golf Today. Chateau Élan’s owner purchased the largest home in the area to begin the development of the Diablo Grande Winery and Resort. The former home’s immaculate six-car garage became the golf pro shop and the commercial refrigerator, stove, and ovens in the huge kitchen were adapted beautifully into the Clubhouse Grille Restaurant.

Starting in 2004, and ending in September 2005, Diablo Grande Winery and Resort is adding 250 full-service resort rooms and suites, a 15,000-square-foot European Spa, a fitness center, and areas for outdoor enjoyment; three more restaurants; a 25,000-square-foot conference center including an 8,400-square-foot Grand Ballroom and a team of event planners. Construction is already underway on the semi-custom and custom residential community in villages, ridgeline estates, and on golf-front lots.