Welcome to Thomas Kruse Winery!
I
am personally delighted when people take an interest in our endeavors
and I like to show people what we do in the vineyard and in the winery.
Visiting at different times during the year people are able to watch
pruning and caring for the vines, harvesting the grapes, crushing, fermenting
and pressing. Some days we are bottling and that's fun to watch too.
Probably the most onerous task is applying all the labels. It's why my
kids ran away from home vowing never to become winemakers.
We hope to make a visit to us a memorable and happy experience. We like
to share our experience and the fruit of our labor with you.
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We're happy to announce a Summer Sampler Sale!!!
You can get a case of
selected wines at a good price and be ready for summertime barbecues
and dinners on the patio!
12 Bottles - regularly $140
Now a Sampler Case: $59
2 Apricot (375s) - regularly $14
5 Chardonnay - regularly $60
2 Gilroy Red - regularly $16
1 Merlot - regularly $14
1 Late Harvest Zinfandel - regularly $20
1 Cabernet Sauvignon - regularly $16
This sale will last from May 9th through May 20th or until we run
out of wine.
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday - Noon to 5 p.m.
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We are in the news!!!!
Bev Stenehjem with the Gilroy Dispatch wrote
a nice article (Article
- The Dispatch) about our winery. We really appreciate these kind words
and we hope you
all get the chance to visit the winery soon.
"My recent visit with Thomas and Karen Kruse, owners of Gilroy's
Thomas Kruse winery, made me remember Maya Angelou's famous quote: "I've
learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what
you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Spending
time with Tom and Karen is as comfortable as visiting your favorite relatives
in the country.
What first struck me about Tom is how delighted he was to educate me about
his wines. Tom started our interview in his vineyard where he could show me
how his vines are trained to a quadrilateral system - a trellis system where
four cordons (arms) are trained to grow. He explained that although other vineyards
sometimes use a bi-lateral (two-armed) or head-pruned systems (vines not tied
to a trellis system), his quadrilateral trellising maximizes production of
buds (and therefore more grapes) and allows the leaves, which act as solar
panels, to absorb more sunlight.
My crash course in vineyard management continued as Tom talked about rootstocks,
the devastating phylloxera louse and how European and American winemakers work
together to cultivate healthy vines.
We moved into Tom's house, adjacent from his wine-tasting room and vineyards,
where every window affords a view of something to admire - whether the vineyard,
a magnificent oak tree or rolling hills in the distance. Tom poured me a glass
of his estate bottled, late harvest Zinfandel that I immensely enjoyed. Karen
Kruse joined in on the conversation and when Tom was called away for a phone
call, proudly talked about their eight grandchildren.
Tom grew up in Chicago and majored in literature at Northwestern University.
In the summer before his senior year, Tom came to California to visit his older
brother and never left. Tom bought a half ton of grapes and made his first
barrel of wine in 1963. By luck, his first batch was remarkably good and for
a few months he and all his friends enjoyed some very tasty wine. But, by March
and unbeknownst to the fledgling winemaker, oxidation had set in and Tom was
forced to throw a considerable amount away.
By 1971, Tom had learned much about wine making and bought an existing vineyard
off Hecker Pass in Gilroy. In 1997, Tom and Karen purchased another vineyard
a couple of miles from the Gilroy Outlets, with six planted acres of Cabernet
Sauvignon and two acres each of Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Merlot. Their bestseller
is an inexpensive blend, Claire's Field Red Table Wine, which sells out every
year.
Tom is passionate about providing a good experience for his visitors where
they are treated well, have learned something and where they can enjoy good,
reasonably priced wine.
" I want people to leave with the feeling that they got their money's worth
at a nice place," he said.
Currently in his fifth term (non-consecutive) as president of the Wineries
of Santa Clara Valley, Tom is working with the county to create more winery-friendly
regulations.
Thomas Kruse Winery, 3200 Dryden Ave. in Gilroy, is open from noon until 5
p.m. Tuesday through Sunday (they are closed on major holidays) and wine-tasting
is free.
As I drove home, I thought about all I had learned, the delicious glass of
wine and most of all, the great feeling I had after my visit - knowing that
I more than "got my money's worth at a very nice place."
Thank you again to Bev Stenehjem for these nice words.
And here's some comments from our wonderful visitors!!
"Tom,
Thanks for sharing this article. I could not have said it better... in fact,
I have said the same thing about you after visiting with you and your winery.
Thank you for your wonderful hospitality and great wine. It is always a
pleasure to visit you. -- Kind regards, Mac McKenzie (aka Durward)"
"Hi Thomas, That was a delightful article. I am glad that you
got extra publicity. You get a lot word of mouth as we all serve a
bottle and then tell all about you and the winery. We are enjoying
our bottles of wine and we always enjoy coming to visit you when you
have the special events. You are our local treasure. -- Laura"
"Tom, Thanks for sharing. I totally agree with what the article
says. Visiting your winery is a very refreshing, invigorating and learning
experience. The mountains far away, the disciplined rows of vines,
the large oak tree, the silence and the wines...just our luck that
we discovered you.
Thanks for being there. -- Anil"
"Congratulations, Tom and Karen! Great, Great article and so
many of us who know and drink your wine would gladly ditto that praise!
Thank you, -- Casey and Michael"
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Don't forget to take a look at our new Newsletter page!
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Thomas Kruse Winery Calendar
Announcing a Bottling Day - Saturday April 21st!!
Please check out the events we have planned.
Click on the link and read all about it.
Read more about our annual events here!!!
