Broc Cellars is an urban winery with no estate vineyard of its own. From a warehouse in Berkeley's Gilman District, Chris Brockway buys organically farmed fruit from up and down California and ferments it with nothing added, letting native yeasts and bacteria do the work. The result is some of the most influential natural wine made in the United States.
Backstory
Chris Brockway started Broc Cellars in 2002, with the first releases following a few years later. Raised in Omaha, Nebraska, he studied oenology at Fresno State and came up through California Zinfandel, but grew frustrated with the era's push toward high-alcohol, heavily extracted wines. In 2008 he moved Broc into its Berkeley space, a block from its current home. Bridget Leary, his partner, joined as general manager in 2015.
The Region
Broc is a city winery, but its grapes come from across California, from the Central Coast to Mendocino. Vineyard sources include Fox Hill Vineyard in Mendocino, which the winery acquired in 2023, Arrowhead Mountain Vineyard in Sonoma Valley, and fruit from Happy Canyon in Santa Barbara.
Vineyards & Farming
Brockway works only with organically farmed grapes, favoring growers who use cover crops, build soil health, and in some sites graze sheep to manage the vineyard floor. He harvests early to preserve acidity and keep alcohol levels modest, a deliberate counter to the ripe California style he reacted against.
Winemaking
The cellar philosophy is strict and simple. Every wine ferments spontaneously on its native yeasts and bacteria, with nothing added: no cultured yeast, no nutrients, no enzymes, no tannin. No sulfur goes in during fermentation, and only a small amount is sometimes used at bottling, depending on the wine.
The Wines
The range runs to roughly twenty bottlings a year across a wide spread of varieties, including Zinfandel, Carignan, Cabernet Franc, Roussanne, Nero d'Avola, Trebbiano, and Dolcetto. Signature wines include Vine Starr, a juicy whole-cluster Zinfandel, and Koukou, made from Cabernet Franc. Across the board the wines aim to be bright, fresh, and easy to drink rather than heavy.
