Left Coast Cellars

To visit Left Coast Cellars, you travel north from the town of Rickreall on Hwy. 99 until you arrive at the winery’s gated entrance. From there, you execute no fewer than five left turns to get to the tasting room. Owners Bob and Suzanne Pfaff lived in Paris during the 1970s and no doubt visited that city’s Left Bank on many occasions. There is, in fact, a streak of left-handedness running through the Pfaff family. The Pfaffs came from Colorado to the “left coast” in 2003 when they acquired the 306-acre tract that would become … well, you guessed it: Left Coast Cellars.

Through some wise hiring choices, the Pfaffs developed an extended family of relatively young and talented vineyard, winemaking, tasting room and back-office personnel. These people, especially thirty-something vineyard manager and winemaker Luke McCollom, are the face of Left Coast Cellars. Luke was one of the first hires the Pfaffs made, and his background in the California wine industry was put to good use from the start. Today, on the primarily southern-sloping hills of the property, Luke and his team adhere to biodynamic and organic farming methods on nearly 100 acres of wine grapes. Bearing the names Field of Dreams, Latitude 45, Left Bank, Right Bank, The Bench, Truffle Hill, and The Orchards, the vineyards are the jewels of the estate. Each has a distinctive character suitable for various clones of pinot noir, pinot gris, and chardonnay. These vineyards are the key to the Left Coast Cellars success story.

However, from a visitor’s perspective, the real story is the jaw-dropping beauty of the grounds. The 15-mph drive from the iron-gate entrance to the stylish tasting room allows your eye to drink in a spring-fed lake, undulating hills of meticulously groomed vineyards, artsy sculpture, stately white oaks, garden flowers, and Italian cypress trees. Framed by a natural bowl-like amphitheater, the Left Coast Cellars property is more of a private reserve on a Jurassic Park scale — minus the jungle foliage and Tyrannosaurus rex, of course.

As for the wines, Luke has succeeded in racking up a number of awards. For example, their 2004 Cali’s Cuvée won a Critic’s Gold at the prestigious 2007 Critics Challenge in San Diego. That’s not a left-handed compliment; it’s high praise for the wines he creates. Such recognition gives tasting-room staff a sense of pride when pouring Left Coast’s offerings for eager visitors, including this left-handed WineTrail trekker.