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Winegrapes share space with exotics
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The last thing a visitor to the Santa Cruz Mountain winegrowing region could expect to find is a herd of camels and an emu or two. But, that’s exactly what grape grower-rancher Jon Anderson planned for Camel Hill Vineyards.
“I had always planned to have exotic animals, my problem was finding the exact kind,” he said. “I began crossing some off my list: elephants are too big; giraffes could break their necks in the hilly terrain. So, I did my homework and learned camels were hot.”
He bought a 6-month-old Bactrian bull (a male camel with two humps) from Southern California and imported eight Dromedary females from Australia. The plan was to get a pair but he ended with 20.
“The camels adapt very easily to the heat and the chilly temperatures of these mountains,” he said, nuzzling George, the alpha male. “After all, it gets cold in the desert where they originated.”
In addition to a menagerie, the former nurseryman grows winegrapes for the Thomas Fogarty Winery and Michael Martella Wines, both in Woodside. His vineyard, lush with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah is almost dry-farmed -- Cabernet Sauvignon is watered only twice a year which results in intense flavor – and he harvests 3 tons an acre.
The vineyard, perched 800 feet above the Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos, has a cool climate that has been ideal for growing Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc and Merlot. Harvest usually begins in late September and continues through October. This long growing season allows for maximum flavor development in the grapes and lower sugar and high acidity numbers than most of California.
But, more about the camels: Here the truth about the question – “How much water does a camel’s hump hold?” The answer: none. It stores fat; the camel will use it as nourishment when food is scarce. And there is no shortage of food at Camel Hill. The flock is fed a gourmet blend of alfalfa and oat hay. Camels are browsers not grazers and would chomp on most any vegetation as well as pasturing on grass.
He breeds and sells the camels: $15,000 to $30,000 for a Bactrian male and dromedaries range from $3,500 to $10,000. And color is factored into the price. Pure white camels are worth more than the brown variety. There are only 100 white camels in the nation and Anderson owns 10 percent of that number.
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