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dkcellars
"By Fran Benavidez"
On a clear day, you can see San Francisco in the far distance. Yet standing atop the windy knoll where DK Cellars sits in El Dorado wine country’s Fair Play a wine lover can feel worlds away from any form of city life.
DK stands for Dave and Kim Pratt, the husband and wife team who left corporate America behind in a cloud of grape dust to begin what Dave calls his “third life,” that of a grape grower and winemaker. “The driver was I wanted to own my own business,” recalls the ex-software engineer from Rancho Cordova. “I wanted to be the guy that made all those decisions nobody understood.”
The deciding factor in the couple’s career move came when they participated in one of El Dorado Wine Association’s popular Passport Weekends. The Pratts quickly fell under the wine spell of the picturesque Fair Play Appellation, and began volunteering at wineries, meeting local folks in the industry, and aligning themselves with nearby vintners who were establishing their names as well. By the end of 1997, they had purchased a 20 year-old vineyard with views from here to there.
A few years ago, it was a spectacular Syrah from El Dorado Hills that turned Cappelli’s taste buds in a new direction. Deciding to pack up his wine thief and head for higher ground in the Sierra’s emerging wine region, he purchased land and started new rootstock. In 2003 he began consulting for Miraflores, and it was the start of a delicious relationship. “We made our first wines in the new facility with the harvest of 2006,” recalls the winemaker. “Everything (Victor and Cheryl Alvarez) do is guided by a complete focus on quality, and they’re prepared to commit the time and resources necessary to make the best wines possible,” he says. Plus, he finds the committed couple a lot of fun to work with.apprenticeship.
That thought must have crossed Dave’s mind a million times over as he drove from Fair Play to Lockeford several times a day to where his former production facility was located. Also until recently, the Pratts were processing grapes through five gallon buckets at a time. “People don’t understand that when I got a bin dumper for my birthday last year, I was very excited!” says Kim, and admits she cried tears of joy the day wine barrels came rolling back up the hill to their sparkling new production facility.
Surrounded by ripening varietals of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Semillon, Cab Franc, Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc, Dave shares his winery’s motto: Old World traditions, New World wines. “We’re trying to make an age-worthy style of Bordeaux,”he explains. “Where is this wine going to be in 25 years?” Figured into the luscious mix is DK’s prime source for zinfandel-the celebrated Herbert Vineyard owned by prominent winemaker and consultant Marco Cappelli. Notably, in 2007 Pratt was honored with the prestigious Herbert Award, and it was the first time since 1998 that a winery had taken the honors that used Herbert Vineyard fruit. And now, the Pratts hope to keep the award within the vineyard, so to speak!
“Dave knows Zinfandel far better than I do,” shares Cappelli, whose enological profession began after graduating from UC Davis, working in European wine houses, and perfecting his winemaking skills in the Napa Valley for 17 years. Dave and Marco have been working together since 2002, and they bounce ideas off one another with ease. “I’m happy to defer to someone with the knowledge that Dave has and the reputation he’s built for making quality wines. I’ve learned a lot from him,” says Marco.
On the flip side, Pratt admits, “Marco’s told me a few times ‘I’d like to pick your brain about what you’re doing with Zinfandel’ and I tell him, ‘Marco, you’ve forgotten more than I will ever know! That would be a very short conversation.”
DK Cellars is located at 7380 Vineyard View Drive in Fair Play,
CA. Phone: 530-620-1132. Open for Tasting Friday – Sunday
11am – 5pm. Website: www.dkcellars.com
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