David Bruce: Pinot Noir Crusader
We’ve tasted David Bruce’s wines for many years, but it was only a couple of months ago that we had the opportunity to visit the winery as part of our preparations for our upcoming report on the Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains. That visit motivated us to learn more about David Bruce, especially his role producing and promoting California Pinot Noir. This article discusses his pioneering role in California and reviews the winery’s current releases from the Santa Cruz Mountains. Unfortunately, David Bruce passed away in 2021, but his generous spirit remains among the vintners of the region. Today’s Santa Cruz Mountain winemakers would surely agree with David Bruce who once said, “Our vision from day one has been to make the greatest Pinot Noir.”
David Bruce was an early advocate of California Pinot Noir. According to Martin Ray, the famed founder of Mount Eden Vineyards, “David Bruce was an unabashed Burgundy man.” While a medical student, mid-way through his training at Stanford University, David read about fine Burgundy and bought one from a wine shop for the then princely sum of $7.50. It was a remarkable wine, a 1954 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg [a current vintage is $5000/bottle]. “I brought it home and cooked dinner around the wine. Wild duck,” David later told an interviewer. “As I was drinking this wine, I imagined this mountain with vineyards and me walking through it.
Before opening a dermatology practice in San Jose’s Willow Glen in 1960, David Bruce was already making wine at home from Chardonnay and Zinfandel grapes grown in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He spent time working with Martin Ray and doing harvests at Ridge Vineyards. In 1961, after completing his medical residency, he bought 45 acres of steep hillside land at 2,100 ft elevation overlooking the Pacific Ocean that became the winery’s estate vineyard.
He reputedly selected his vineyard site because of its proximity to Martin Ray, and he planted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with cuttings from Martin Ray. He eventually built a house and winery on the property located at Bear Creek Road in Los Gatos, and in 1964 David Bruce Winery released its first wines. In 2024 it celebrated its 60th Anniversary.
In 1976, the winery’s reputation grew internationally with the inclusion of the 1973 David Bruce Chardonnay in the Judgment of Paris, a blind tasting of French and California wines organized by Steven Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher that resulted in a triumphant victory for California wines. Although most of the entries submitted, and the winners, were from Napa, the 1973 David Bruce Winery Estate Chardonnay, made from Los Gatos grapes, was in the lineup.
“He was a true winegrower and a modern pioneer of Pinot Noir,” says Prudy Foxx, a noted viticulturalist who first met David Bruce in the 1980s. According to Foxx, David Bruce’s background gave him a scientific approach to winemaking. First, she said, he found a “perfect environment” for the varietal at the 2,100-foot ridge on the coast. “He was one of the pioneers to identify that and begin to plant Pinot Noir here,” she said. “Over the years, he focused on finding the best clones of Pinot Noir – different expressions of the same variety – that would bring out the best expression of the Santa Cruz Mountains terroir. He was constantly selecting which ones were producing the best quality fruit to make ultra-premium Pinot Noir, the most like Burgundy.” As a consequence of field work on Pinot Noir, cuttings from what’s known as “the David Bruce clone” can be found in vineyards throughout the region. And, most significantly, David Bruce convinced local growers that they could grow world class Pinot Noir.
Mitri Faravashi
David Bruce was an innovator and his many “firsts” went beyond innovations in Pinot Noir. They included a Blanc de Noir, a white wine from Zinfandel grapes, late harvest wines, malolactic fermentation for white wines, use of whole berry fermentation for red wines, and the use of imported French oak barrels. He also was among the first advocates of foot crushing, extensive skin contact, small barrel fermentation and rotary tanks.
Today, the estate vineyard in Los Gatos has 9 acres planted to Pinot Noir. Additional grapes are sourced from all over California and multiple appellation Pinot Noirs are produced in addition to the estate Pinot Noir (sold only at the winery). The winemaker since 2004 is Mitri Faravashi. A tasting room is located at the original winery at 21439 Bear Creek Rd, Los Gatos in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
The Wines
David Bruce 2022 Estate Riesling Santa Cruz Mountains ($34) 92 A varietally correct Riesling with light petrol notes from about 5{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} botrytized grapes. The grapes come from a one-acre, shady area of the vineyard surrounded by tall trees growing in sandy loam soils that provide an environment conducive to botrytis [and requires a tractor with tracks instead of wheels]. The yields are very low, 0.5 to 1 ton per acre. The nose is fresh and clean with lovely apricot notes that are picked up on the palate along with minerals and that pungent hint of botrytis. Flavorful, long-lasting finish. Fermented in stainless steel. 14.2{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} alc.
David Bruce 2019 Estate Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains ($45) 93 Medium yellow straw with gold flecks. Multifaceted nose with lemon, honeyed oak and tropical fruit notes. Crisp and fresh on a weighty palate with flavorful notes of orchard fruit, integrated toasty oak and a hint of the tropics. Whole cluster pressed, fermented in barrel with part native ferment and regular battonage; matured 16 months in 30{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} new French oak. 14.5{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} alc.
David Bruce 2021 Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains ($60) 93 Medium ruby red. Opens with fresh scents of ripe cherry fruit. This is a very flavorful, somewhat earthy Pinot Noir made predominantly of the David Bruce selection. Quite assertive on the attack but more refined and focused on the palate with round tannins and excellent persistence on the finish. Surprisingly similar in some respects to a Russian River Valley Pinot. Made with 4 ton open top fermenters. An excellent wine for lamb. 14.7{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} alc.
David Bruce 2019 Estate Syrah Santa Cruz Mountains ($50) 94 Dark ruby red. This cool climate Syrah begins with an effusive spicy, dark cherry and plum nose. The palate is silky smooth with rich dark red fruit and touches of tobacco and spice. Significant, rich extract on a long finish with round tannins. 30{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} whole cluster adds a spicy note; matured in about 10{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} new oak. 14.7{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} alc.
