Michael Cruse came to wine by way of a lab bench. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 2002 with a degree in molecular and cell biology, picked up wine microbiology from Professor Terry Leighton, and worked his way up to associate winemaker at Merryvale's Starmont before opening a custom crush facility in Petaluma. There he began the backyard sparkling experiments that became Ultramarine in 2008, arguably America's first cult sparkling wine.
Backstory
In 2013 Cruse launched Cruse Wine Co. with the goal of making wines that were fruit-driven, fresh, and delicious but still serious. In 2016 he was named San Francisco Chronicle Winemaker of the Year.
The Region
Working out of a Petaluma industrial park near Highway 101, Cruse draws on sites across California's North Coast and beyond, including Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Contra Costa Counties.
Vineyards & Winemaking
Cruse describes his approach as natural yet technical at once. Fermentation is spontaneous, and depending on the bottling the wine sees stainless steel, wooden vats, barrique, or concrete. He avoids additives, does not cold stabilize, and minimizes or avoids sulfur when a wine will remain stable on its own.
The Wines
A signature is Valdiguie, the grape once called Napa Gamay, which he turns into juicy, Beaujolais-like reds and into pet-nat and traditional-method sparklers from old-vine fruit at sites such as Rancho Chimiles. He also makes small lots of Tannat, Syrah, Carignan, and Chardonnay.
We currently carry two wines from Cruse: the Valdiguie Nouveau, his juicy, Beaujolais-style red, and the Rorick Vineyard Chardonnay from the Sierra Foothills.
