LUXURY COLLECTION
CARMODY MCKNIGHT ESTATE WINERY
PRESENTED BY:
ADAM GHISLETTA 707-363-5868 ghislettarealty@gmail.com
UNIQUE. REMARKABLE. NEVER TO BE DUPLICATED The Carmody McKnight vineyard is an extraordinary vineyard and winery. It is viticulturally unmatched in the United States, Europe, and most of the world. Yes, one of a kind and can never be duplicated. This is a statement of fact determined by the world’s leading earth scientists and viticulturalists after decades of university-directed studies and research on the property. If one uses the term “unique” this property is the ultimate example. When introduced to the remarkable attributes it seems hard to believe.
Marian and Gary Conway, a couple with illustrious backgrounds, purchased a 19th Century homesteaded 320-acre ranch far enough away from L.A. to meet their ideal second-home expectations. The decision to buy was made moments after a helicopter crash-landing on the property where Gary barely survived. The magnificent land was six miles from the seacoast art colony of Cambria, within the headlands of stunning Big Sur country, and nestled in the exclusive hills of West Paso Robles.
This land was tectonically formed 26-million years ago by three volcanoes emerging from an inland sea, and the natural, non-GMO grape vines actually flourish in the magma.
Of the 160 acres of the Conway’s present vineyard and winery, which has indeed evolved into a celebrated vineyard, 75 acres are natural vineyards of mainly Bordeaux varietals with at least 40 ideal acres remaining of the 160 to be planted if it be desired.
This pristine land lies prominently in a sciencedefined Premium Wine Growing Area of the United States. It is only the now very rare Mediterranean Climate that possesses the necessary criteria for premium grapes and wine as has always been the case. It is very rare to find a vineyard influenced by one volcano, let alone three. The natural, classic wines cannot be duplicated on any viticultural or oenological level and certainly in the nutrient power of the soils which end up in the glorious, unmanipulated and health-nurturing wines.
The highly-awarded and lavishly praised Carmody McKnight Estate Wines cannot be duplicated on any viticultural or oenological level. The complex nutrients power the soils from which the estate wine derives. For the greatest of wines, the entire environment must come into play to ensure that the wine-making is unmanipulated and not chemical dependent.
CLIMATE Carmody McKnight thrives in a Mediterranean Climate which is considered by earth scientists as the most viticulturally perfect known. That is one of the reasons why the vineyard has been studied and researched for decades by international earth scientists and universities. To add to the essential characteristics of the classic Mediterranean Climate, Carmody McKnight exhibits record temperature swings. It is the driest, which makes it not susceptible to the use of carcinogenic fungicides because of the huge humidity increase due to Global Warming. Carmody McKnight vineyard has more days of sun than any area in California allowing photosynthesis to perform its wonders for the finest grapes and the richest wines. In contrast to having a dry Mediterranean climate, the Carmody McKnight vineyard also experiences a high amount of average annual rainfall. Carmody McKnight on the Westside of Paso Robles is one of the closest non-GMO vineyards to the
Pacific, approximately 6 miles, but interestingly not adversely affected by the proximity with downsides such as excessive fog and moisture and limited sunlight. Carmody McKnight is positioned to prosper in the future as it is already the most extraordinary example of sustainability in the world. Carmody McKnight lies prominently in a Premium Wine Growing Area of the United States and has evolved into a legendary vineyard. It’s all best summed up by Brent Hallock, an esteemed professor from Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo. Professor Hallock explained that with the reevaluation of grape-growing regions in light of global warming, the consensus of earth and climate scientists is that the immediate area of the Carmody McKnight vineyards will not be affected by climate change as far as the eye can see.
Carmody McKnight Mediterranean Climate is considered by earth scientists as the most viticulturally perfect known. That is one of the reasons why the vineyard has been studied and researched for decades by international earth scientists and universities. Of most all the vineyards in California, Carmody McKnight is ideally positioned to prosper in the future as it is already the most extraordinary example of sustainability in the world.
PROLIFIC, NUTRIENT-RICH SOIL “It’s important for people to know that the concept of terroir is tangible and measurable by what is in the soil.” — GARY CONWAY A stunning discovery recently occurred by way of continuing university studies the discovery of a “super soil” found nowhere else on the planet. Super calcium montmorillonite! Over 25,000 USDA soil series reviews were conducted and not one single match was found. It is the most perfect soil ever found for viticulture. This was revealed by way of an 8-month long research project by scientists, professors, and graduate students from Cal Poly University. This soil is unequalled in nutrient values and cation exchange capacity and natural healing. No other supplement for skin and internal consumption is comparable. The soils of Carmody McKnight are mineral and nutrient rich and the wines, as demonstrated by the university examinations and studies, are the most mineral rich of all wines. This is important because the richest natural flavors derive from soils that are the most complex in micronutrients, resulting in concentrated flavors and more character intense. Limestone-calcareous soils are prolific in the CM vineyards and unique to the Westside of Paso Robles. Limestone soils, rich in magnesium, have been proven over the centuries to be essential for superior wines, both in flavor and in structure.
The limestone-endowed soils of Carmody McKnight provide natural balance adding to the richest array of nutrients, which is known to guarantee consummate wines. Then there is “wonder soil” calcium montmorillonite that is predominant in the Carmody McKnight Estate Vineyards. Very few vineyards in the world possess this rare and prolific soil. The soil contains no fewer than 67 minerals. It is the most powerful nutrient known and the most significant detoxifier. A recent laboratory study of the vineyard’s calcium montmorillonite conducted an X-ray Diffraction and XRF Analysis. The analysis revealed that up to 45% of the soil contains montmorillonite which is consistent with the Cal Poly studies determining that the selecte vineyard soil sites are between 50% and 60% montmorillonite. Limestone and calcium montmorillonite are the two most important soil constituents for the grape vine and the combination is thought to exist in the most renowned vineyard in France. Limestone itself is known to contribute to wine greatness. This combination is also located on the Carmody McKnight property.
CARMODY MCKNIGHT VINEYARDS HAVE EXTREMELY NUTRIENT DENSE SOILS
Department of Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and UC Davis.
BORON
NITROGEN
SULFUR
PHOSPHORUS
IRON
POTASSIUM
SODIUM
MAGNESIUM
CALCIUM
The chart depicts the nutrients found in Carmody KcKnight grapes. Prepared by the Soil Science
EQUIPMENT SOLD WITH PROPERTY WINE MAKING Tanks, bottling and labeling equipment, crusher, food grade pumps and hoses, oak barrels and casks, racks, stainless steel tanks, vats, various wine cellar supplies, wine and olive oil bottles and packaging AGRICULTURE Full irrigation, drip systems lines, and water storage tanks LANDSCAPE Mowers, landscape tools and equipment
HARVEST Harvest equipment, scales, harvest and winery large totes and boxes, picking bins, loppers, pruners, shears, trimmers, picking bags, gloves and equipment supplies, netting and netting equipment
UTILITY & STRUCTURES Tasting room and grounds accessories, large event tables, chairs, umbrellas, coverings, etc. BUILDINGS:
LAND MOVERS Tractors, forklifts, graders, rototiller, pumps, generators, winery equipment, compressors
Home 1: 1,933 sq.ft. | 3BD/2BA | Built in 1948
TRANSPORT Trucks, jeep, Polaris ATV, Jeep ATV, trailers
Straw Bale Winery: 4,000 sq.ft.
TOOLS Power tools, air tools, weed-eaters, power saws, chain saws, pole saws, extension ladders, industrial lighting hydraulic lift, pressure washers, sprayers, vacuums, construction tool accessories, hand tools, safety equipment and gear
Home 2: 1,483 sq.ft. | 1BD/1BA
| Built in 1996
Home 3: 1,056 sq.ft. | 2BD/1BA | Built in 1986. As per seller’s records.
Horse Barn & Arenas: No information available. Special Event Center and Art Gallery: dining facilities, artist’s studio, office, fine furnishings and art storage, original art pieces, artifacts, gallery lighting, and fire sprinklers.
*Information about buildings was obtained through tax records.
UTILITY & STRUCTURES Tasting room and grounds accessories, large event tables, chairs, umbrellas, coverings, etc.
**Inventory to be provided by seller and convey, “as is” with bill of sale. ***Please note as Realtors we do not make price evaluations of these items. Buyers are encouraged to employ their own experts to evaluate addition equipment.***
THE VINES Nearly 50 acres of vines are in production today. Approximately 20 acres of vines are in stages of replanting. 75 acres of classic vineyards were originally planted. There is also an extensive Tuscan olive grove. Carmody McKnight was the pioneer Tuscan olive grower in the U.S. The vineyard was originally larger and plans of extending up to 125 acres was contemplated, but over the 35 years since the first development and planting of the vineyard, there were many significant considerations that were preoccupying. More recently, rapid environmental changes have been taking place, especially affecting viticulture and the
future of wine, and a thoughtful stretch of time has been required to make sound science-driven decisions on future plantings and winemaking. Most of the vines at Carmody McKnight are now 35 years old and on their own root, which means a natural vine. The trunks of the vines are larger for their age than in most, an obvious reflection of the prodigious nutrients which also ensures powerful immune systems for flourishing longevity. The size also suggests that the roots reach deeply into vineyard soils proven to have an astonishing 26 different and distinguished soil types.
WATER, WELLS, AND A PROTECTED FUTURE •
Original well - Filipponi Thompson +/- 1,000 gallons per minute
•
Lakeside well - Miller Drilling Well +/- 100 gallons per minute
•
Irrigation well - Await Well +/- 60 gallons per minute
•
Original Homestead well - Pioneer Well hand dug over 170 years ago. No records are available for capactity
•
Reservoir - +/- 1 Acre surface area +/- 6 acre feet of water storage for 2,000,000 gallons
VINEYARD HISTORY It all began more than forty years ago, Marian and Gary Conway purchased a 19th Century homesteaded ranch west of Paso Robles, California, and six miles from the seacoast art colony of Cambria in stunning Big Sur country. The real estate broker was on the way with Gary to show him this land of destiny, when his helicopter hit high-tension wires and had to crash land. Terrifying seconds split into infinity. Gary’s eyes, still fixed upon the valley floor and the ranch below in this cataclysmic moment, vowed that if he survived he would buy this valley ranch. Somehow… Gary and the pilot pulled through… miraculously. As Gary staggered from the helicopter crash site, he dusted himself off and promptly announced to the still stunned real estate broker, “We made it. I’ll buy this place.”
More than a decade after the purchase, the Conways sold half of their ranch to Justin Baldwin, at that point a banker in Century City, who was looking for supreme land for elite wine. It is a phenomenon that this magical vineyard never required fertilization of the soils during its 35-plus years. In addition, under no circumstances have fungicides, pernicious and carcinogenic, ever been applied in the vineyard’s history. There is a grand array of viticultural phenomena which is a very rare attribute in a vineyard.
GARY CONWAY & FAMILY The compelling story of Gary Conway and his family not only appealed to the outstanding wine aficionados and luminaries attending the Central Coast Wine Classic, but the narrative is also captivating to the international public at large. The Wine Classic lavished their praise on Gary Conway and, of course Marian, but equally exuberant has been the veneration for their children who have brought individual creativity, values, and ideals into the equation over the years. This family adventure is so extensive and rich in content it is difficult to put in words, and when Gary attempted to just that with the first part of this adventure… it became a best seller -- Art of the Vineyard. Gary and Marian’s unusual talents and careers have encompassed many creative pursuits and experiences, but the intrinsic values of farm living were at the very core of their lives.
tree on the Central Coast and premiered the first estate Tuscan olive oil, which won the gold in the Los Angeles International Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Competition, the world’s largest olive oil judging! With Kathleen directing much of the long-evolving family “business,” the Conway’s son, Gareth, developed into a vintner in the midst of a stellar career as an executive producer for Voice of America. Gareth introduced the idea of including another generation into the family saga – the story of Gary’s Sicilian grandfather – Angelo. Gary’s first memory at four years old in Boston was bringing up the family wine, made by Angelo, from the cellar for all the family to enjoy and on which they depended for their health. Three generations of wine passions demonstrate in full the essential values of the family farm, planting in nutrient lush soils, and creating wine classically and responsibly for our well-being.
Marian and Gary’s daughter, Kathleen, devoted most of her life to the farm and vineyard and became a talented and conscionable farmer and an unusually creative vintner in her own right. With her instinct of broad market appeal, her own K Estate Wines pioneered sparkling wine on the Central Coast but also other wines that attained instant popularity.
The adventure of the family and farm will be admired by all and certainly will the principles that the family stands for such as pure and natural wine making without added chemicalization of the wine or the vineyard. This is urgent information that everyone must come to terms with and share with their own families and communities.
Carmody McKnight’s companion wine, Motif, evolved from the world-renowned university studies on the vineyard as a wine linked to the unique multiplicity of soils and nutrient-natural flavors. Art of the Vineyard, as its name suggests, approached winemaking as an art form. The family was also the first to plant the Tuscan olive
These issues resonate as never before and will underscore this family’s life purpose and conscionable pursuit of farm-crafted wine and food. It involved much sacrifice and never taking the easy way out and compromising nature’s laws and wine purity. This is the story of our time for it illustrates in color our essential humanity.
SUSTAINABILITY Carmody McKnight practices sustainable farming. For starters, Carmody McKnight has applied no petrochemical fertilizers or any other fertilizer for that matter in nearly 40 years from the very first planting. That is sustainability! Carmody McKnight’s most notable achievement in practicing sustainable farming for almost 40 years in enhanced by the rare magma of three volcanoes. The Carmody McKnight winery building, itself, is the ultimate in sustainability. A straw-bale structure – an
above-the-ground cellar -- employing no heating or cooling only a sustainable natural environment for natural yeast. Yes, native yeast. No chemical yeast is used. The Carmody McKnight family farm and winery have been championed by their Central Coast brethren as pioneers who over the decades and generations of vine growing and wine making were fervent in their family commitments and passions for the land and uncompromising dedication to the environment.
24 REASONS WHY... CARMODY MCKNIGHT IS AN EXTRAORDINARY VINEYARD AND WINERY 1.
8. The Carmody McKnight vineyards enjoy a long growing season (harvesting through Nov.). Long growing season means more layered, natural flavors and fewer requirements for manipulation and corrective winemaking.
Carmody McKnight Vineyard is the ultimate in “sustainability.” The soils have never been fertilized nor have needed fertilization in the 30+ years since the vineyard was planted on its own root.
2. Three volcanoes influence the property, and the natural grapes actually grow in the magma which is a nutrient power house. 3. Carmody McKnight redefines the term sustainable viticulture. Even the winery building, constructed from straw-bale, is sustainable in its function and purpose. It is an above the ground cellar. 4. Being an estate winery, the natural, non-GMO grapes derive from the estate vineyard and from nowhere else. This means there is total viticultural quality control.
5. The discovery of a “super soil” was made onsite. Super calcium montmorillonite! It is the perfect and most protective soil for viticulture. This was revealed during an 8-month long research project by scientists, professors, and graduate students from Cal Poly University. This soil is unequalled in nutrient values and cation exchange capacity and natural healing. 6. The soils and the wines of Carmody McKnight are abundant in minerals and nutrients. This is vital because the rich natural flavors derive from soils that are complex in micronutrients, resulting in deeply concentrated flavors and more character intense. 7. The winemaker has created only small lots of the estate wine ensuring that the wines will not be filtered or fined, which remove the soul of the wine.
9. Limestone-calcareous soils are prolific in the vineyards and unique to the Westside of Paso Robles. Known for centuries, limestone soils are essential for healthy vines and quality wines. 10. Carmody McKnight is the only non-GMO (sizable premium varietal winery) in the world that is confirmed by earth scientists. 11. Calcium montmorillonite is predominant in the soil. Very few vineyards possess this rare soil. The “wonder soil” contains no fewer than 67 macro and micro nutrients.
one reason why in its over 30-year history not one fungicide has ever been applied to the vines. 16. Perfect topography. The grapes of Carmody McKnight nourish in gentle hillside vineyards with ideal drainage.
12. The north-south slopes of the vineyard have the advantage of an array of microclimate changes from hilltop to bottom. The vineyard enjoys the greatest recorded range of diurnal temperature assuring the best net photosynthesis. This exceptional bioclimatic condition is a viticultural imperative for greatness.
17. Most of the vines are now thirty -five years old and on their own root, which means a natural vine. The trunks of the vines are larger for their age than at any other vineyard, an obvious reflection of the prodigious nutrients.
15. According to studies, the Adelaida region, which is one of the sub-areas of Paso Robles Westside, enjoys more sun days than any area in California. This is
21. Carmody McKnight vineyards was selected for the significant soil and nutrient studies ever undertaken. Esteemed universities and viticulturalists and geologists from around the globe came to the vineyard to study and research the incomparable qualities. 22. The Carmody McKnight vineyard is the ultimate sustainable vineyard because no fertilization has ever been required or applied, esecially the toxic petrochemicals. 23. The vineyards contain richly productive vertisols with high-water holding capacity and the special attribute of being drought-resistant
13. Because of temperature swings, Carmody McKnight in one of the coolest regions in California. A wide temperature range is essential for quality grapes. Diurnal tempreture swings at the vineyard average 55 degrees every 12 hours!. 14. The vineyards experience the lowest relative humidity, a meteorological marvel and, anomalously, bordering a cold ocean. This characteristic also greatly minimizes fungicide dependability.
20. The vitis vinifera grapes vines are the largest known in the world and non-GMO and with perfect spacing 8’ x 11’ for the maximum and protected uptake of nutrients and water.
24. Carmody McKnight Estate grapes start with the perfect environment to create the perfect wine, but in that journey the wine must be crafted in a natural cellar for its years in development and only native or natural yeasts are employed.
18. Carmody McKnight lies prominently in a Premium Wine Growing Area of the United States. 19. Carmody McKnight has never added a single chemical to its estate wines... and no artificial flavors and color.
LUXURY COLLECTION