Arguably the best kept secret in the Valley is that there are wineries here. “People don’t necessarily associate this part of the state with winegrowing even though it has a really rich history of winegrowing,” said Cyndee Donato, managing partner of Antelope Valley Winery in Lancaster. Prohibition marked the end of a vibrant wine industry in Southern California. “If you look at the history, there were a million grapevines in Southern California. This is where it began and then Prohibition shut it down All the farmers sold out and moved up north,” explained David Reynolds of Leona Valley Winery, which sits above Valencia. Both Reynolds’ and Donato’s wineries will be featured at the Loose Goose Wine Festival, taking place from Oct. 2 to Oct. 5 in Valencia. Antelope Valley Winery also participated in the Palmdale Jazz and Wine Festival on Sept. 6 Participating in area wine festivals is one of the major methods wineries here use to expose their labels to the masses, considering that they don’t have the option of relying on tourism, as wineries in Northern California do. Three years ago, wineries in the area formed the Antelope Valley Winegrowers Association; Chantel Kilmer of Cameo Vineyards in Lancaster serves as president. “We’re uniting to get the word out that we are a winemaking region,” Kilmer said. “It’s been a real good plus for us.” <!– Local: Antelope Valley Winery. –> Local: Antelope Valley Winery. Like Antelope Valley Winery, Cameo was recently featured in the Palmdale fest and participated in Valyermo Fall Festival, held Sept. 27 and Sept. 28. Cameo is the oldest of the three aforementioned wineries. The first batch of grapes was planted in 1981 at Cameo, which sits on nearly 30 acres. In 1987, a vintage wine called Trevvianno was launched. The winery itself is closed to the public, but Cameo has a wine tasting room inside of Charlie Brown Farms in Little Rock. Cameo wine is also available at the Whole Wheatery in Lancaster Kilmer started at Cameo five years ago as a part-time employee in the wine tasting room. Now, she is the director of marketing and events. “One of the biggest challenges, I think, is for people not to think that wine would be grown here in the high desert. That is one big challenge,” she said. The Southern California climate poses challenges as well. The grapes that are planted must be able to mature in the heat of the high desert. Care must also be taken to prevent the grapes from developing a high amount of sugar. As president of the Antelope Valley Winegrowers Association, Kilmer has seen the results of area wineries uniting pay off. “It’s been great,” she said. “It’s been such a joy to be involved and see the progress that we’ve made in three short years and to see people becoming aware of us. It’s been overwhelming how wonderful it is.” Donato has also been pleased with her membership in the association. “We can’t rely on tourists,” she said. “We go to different festivals. We rely on word of mouth. By joining together with other people we’ve been able to cross-sell one another.” Donato bought her winery in October 1990. The winery has been at its present location in Lancaster for 10 years. Her husband, Frank, and two young sons are also actively involved in the business. To survive as a winery in Southern California, Donato said that she caters to both the local market as well as people who come from outside of the area. In addition, the Donatos run a buffalo ranch, selling buffalo meat as a healthy alternative to beef while pairing the meat with different wines. “We’re servicing our local clientele since we couldn’t rely on our tourism trade,” Donato said. “We do have distribution in the Santa Cruz/San Francisco area, and we have some limited distribution in the Santa Clarita Valley, and we’re starting in the San Fernando Valley by joining the wine club.” The family plans to launch three new labels in October. Leona Valley Winery, where vineyards were first planted in 2002, takes a different approach to the wine business. “We’re not looking to compete with local wineries. We’re looking to compete with the guys in Napa,” said Reynolds. “We sell our wines in New York, where we focus on high-end restaurants. We make very little wine, but normally you couldn’t get this wine unless you were sitting down for a $500 dinner.” Leona Valley’s Faultine label can be found in BevMo stores. Leona Valley also makes an eponymous label. The winery fits on 50 acres in Leona Valley, and 20 acres are planted to grapes, according to Reynolds. “Next year, we’re planting 50 acres more,” he said. Reynolds also plans to open a bed-and-breakfast, so visitors can have a convenient place to lodge. And on Oct. 25, Leona Valley Winery will host a wine event, featuring grape-stomping and other activities. Reynolds is also excited about participating in the Loose Goose Wine Festival again, as the winery doesn’t have enough room on its premises to accommodate thousands of people like the Loose Goose does. “We only make 100 cases,” Reynolds said of the event, adding, “… it’s a big deal for us to participate because we’re so small. It’s good for us.”
