Santa Cruz Mountains winemakers recount memories of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake

October 14, 6:04 PMSanta Cruz Wine ExaminerJune Smith & Jerry Starr

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Epicenter Cuvee Chardonnay produced for quake relief efforts

On October 17, 1989, in the midst of the grape harvest, most of the Santa Cruz Mountains winemakers were just completing a busy work day when the tremor hit at 5:04 p.m.

As the 20th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake approaches, several of those who were adversely affected, recall that fateful day. Following are excerpts from a few of the stories compiled by Denise Ward of the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrower's Association staff.

Rich Crescini - Crescini Wines

When the tremor hit, Rich Crescini, now retired, had barrels filled with Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Almost half of the wine was lost and all of his 1200 bottle personal collection.

At Dominican Hospital, where Crescini headed up the Department of Radiology, water was needed to run the processors for films. He filled his now empty wine barrels with water, loaded them onto his truck and took them to the hospital. Because of this quick action, the department was able to function.

Barry Jackson - Equinox

Barry Jackson was helping to transfer some wine at Storrs Winery when the main shock hit. Jackson described the sound as if a freight train was roaring through the building. Glassware broke and bottles shattered. Case goods that were stacked high on palettes swayed back and forth, but somehow avoided collapsing. Newly filled barrels of Chardonnay “began to bounce like the ping pong balls in a lottery cage and wine shot out of the barrels toward the ceiling like geysers, due to the gases forming from the fermentation process,” he recalled.

Jackson noted that as he looked over, Steve Storrs seemed to be moving up and down as if he were on a teeter-totter, while the ground buckled beneath them. Afterward it became deathly quiet.

Wells Shoemaker MD - Salamandre Cellars

Carmine grapes were crushed earlier in the day and Shoemaker settled down to watch the World Series when everything began to tumble down. The Carmine was later bottled as their commemorative “Temblor,” meaning earthquake in Spanish.

“While the winery became a jumbled scene of chaos and upheaval, softened by the redolent honeysuckle of Muscate Canelli that flowed over the floor, the economic aftershocks caused us greater damage. Our local marketplace dried up for several years, but the salamanders in the woods and the creeks made it through, and so did we,” recalls Shoemaker.

Gerry Turgeon - Trout Gulch Vineyard

Trout Gulch Vineyard is located one mile from the epicenter. Owner Bernie Turgeon was in his home at the property and remembers witnessing the shocking event of a giant wave of water splashing out of his swimming pool.

Son, Gerry, owner of the Santa Cruz Brewing Company, now out of operation, was in the banquet room with one of his customers watching TV with a pitcher of beer. The tremor hit before even a sip was taken. In the back parking lot, a truck jostled around as if it were dancing.

Without power for one week, all of the beer in their tanks was lost, but they escaped major damage. The Brewery, housed in a 1929 structure with wood truss ceilings and poured concrete walls, remained intact.

Epicenter Cuvee Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Produced

Several wineries joined together to donate a portion of the 1989 vintage Chardonnay to blend into a specially labeled wine and was later followed up with a bottling of 1989 Pinot Noir. The labels showed the 6.9 magnitude on the actual Richter scale seismograph.

Wines sales netted a total of $15,000 and the money was presented to The Greater Santa Cruz Community Foundation and the Santa Cruz Red Cross for the benefit of relief efforts.

For information on local Santa Cruz memorial events, see the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Related article with more winemaker experiences by June Smith,
Santa Cruz Wineries Remember 1989 Earthquake