Vivac Winery

Open: Year-Round

The winery facility is on the family property, tucked into the Dixon foothills, surrounded by apple orchards. The original building is a 500-square-foot Rastra-block space built by Jesse and Chris in 1999. This space was quickly outgrown. In 2004 the current facility, a 1500-square-foot metal building, was put up, insulated, and equipped with a full heating and cooling system designed to keep the wines at a constant temperature, from fermentation to oak aging and finally to bottle. The initial building is now used for storage of bottled wines awaiting release. The total winemaking facility is 2000 square feet, not nearly enough for the 20% yearly growth in production.

Everything in the winemaking process is done entirely by hand, from hand-sorting the grapes to hand-punch-downs and hand-bottling. The 100% French oak barrique collection is formed of both new and old oak barrels. Despite French oak's high price, the Padbergs insist on using only this top-quality wood because it imparts the sweet spices that are a hallmark of Vivác's Old World-style wines. When not in oak, Vivác wines are fermented and aged in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks.