Good Health: Willow Glen resident Matt Buchanan and Roger Biringer co-founded the Cordon Creek Cellars wine label in 1996, and their business has been growing steadily ever since the two teamed up.
Cordon Creek Cellars wine a young label but growing
By Staci L. Jameson
Matt Buchanan and Roger Biringer have perfected a recipe. It's a recipe for wine, and the public is enjoying their efforts, which are produced under the Cordon Creek Cellars label.
"I started out studying microbiology and even taught it for a while at San JosŽ State University," said Buchanan, who started out brewing beer at home. "I was really interested in the fermenting sciences. I liked the way things were used to cause different reactions in foods and drinks. Fermenting is actually fascinating once you understand the way it works."
He thinks it's a natural progression for people to move on to wine from home brewing.
"The process is very similar, and wine is easier to make than beer. But the goals are the sameÑevery brewer or winemaker is looking for the perfect flavor that the public loves," he said.
In 1996 Buchanan and Biringer, who met at San JosŽ State University, became friends and made wine together for the first time. And the rest, as they say, is history.
"We work well together. We're both interested in the winemaking process, from selecting the grapes and growers to finding the perfect bottle for our wines," said Buchanan, who moved to Willow Glen in 1994.
The process for making the Cordon Creek Cellars wines begins with Buchanan and Biringer selecting the perfect grapes. After the grapes have been selected, a harvesting time must be chosen. The grapes' level of sugar content depends on the amount of time they have on the vine before being harvested.
Next is the crush selection of the grapes, which determines how extensively the grapes will be crushed before being placed in the fermentation barrel. This selection helps to determine the flavor of the finished wine.
Finally, after all of the yeasts and bacteria have been added to the juice, the wine is left to ferment until it has reached the right flavor and level of alcohol content.
The wine is then bottled and shipped to the distributors, which will then send it to the designated stores and restaurants.
"We're selling the wines in three directions now. The first is to the individual. We take orders off the website, or people can call us directly. Next is the wholesaler and distributors," he said. "Those are the stores and local restaurants who know our wines and carry them for the consumers."
At this time Cordon Creek Cellars offers 12 different wines. The red wines include late harvest zinfandel, meritage É, cabernet sauvignon, which is the most popular of their red wines, and a syrah.
The white wine they sell is a sauvignon blanc, which has become the most popular wine during the last five years, according to wine lists, Buchanan said.
"Wine is a great business. The people are all real in their interest in wines. We all want the same thingÑto provide a great wine that people will love. We just take it one step further and try to produce great wines at affordable prices," Buchanan said. "The wine industry is hurting right now, but the good news is that it can only get better from here on out."
Cordon Creek Cellars will be displaying wines at the Vintners Festival of Santa Clara County, held at the Big Basin Bistro in downtown Saratoga on May 31 and June 1.
