Charles and Diana Karren never set out to be in the wine business, per say. Their goal was to spend their days out in the vineyard, in the open air with acres of Pinot Noir surrounding them. Growers at heart, they simply wanted to enjoy the fruits of their labor—once someone else had turned it to wine. But when the wines made from their Pinot Noir started receiving high scores and selling out so fast the couple couldn’t buy a bottle, they thought it might be time to produce wines of their own.
Twenty years ago, the Karrens came to Petaluma and found an abandoned dairy farm for sale. That in itself isn’t unusual for the area—Petaluma has a long history in the dairy and ranching businesses—but grapegrowing in the region was, at the time, unproven. That fact didn’t hamper the two, who decided to plant Pinot Noir anyway. To help them in the farming endeavor, they brought in Diana Karren’s family from Russia, and, with the last $20,000 of their vineyard loan, purchased a used trailer for her parents to live in, made a down payment on a truck and staked an American flag on their new property—which has become a symbol for all the family has built. They named the vineyard Terra de Promissio, or Land of Promise, a nod to the pursuit of their American Dream and to the possibility each new vintage brings. Their first grape harvest was ready to sell in 2005; early buyers included Lynmar Estate, Kosta Browne Winery and Williams Selyem. Now, their Pinot Noir is vineyard designated on the labels of Dutcher Crossing Winery, Castello di Amoroso, MacRostie Winery and Gary Farrell Vineyards and Winery, among others. “We don’t nakedly market the Terra de Promissio name,” Charles Karren said. “In order for them to put our vineyard name on the bottle, we have to taste it and approve it. If we approve it, they have to pay us a dollar a year. Not a dollar per bottle, but they pay us a dollar a year in royalty for the right to put our name on that label.”
Over time, the Karrens were able to pick up on all the different ways in hich winemaking style played a role in developing wines from the same fruit. “Williams Selyem is more Burgundian, or lighter alcohol. Then Kosta Browne is more fruit forward and California style. People always asked us Which wine style do you like?’ I say, ‘Look, it’s like our children. Some are good in the morning; some are good in the evening. One likes history, one likes math.’ As long as they reflect the best of us, that’s fine in a lot of our wine.” When it became impossible for the couple to buy their own vineyard-designated wines, they decided to try winemaking on their own. In 2013, Diana Karren led the winemaking endeavor, producing just 100 cases, but in four different styles. The intention: to showcase the different areas of the vineyard as well as the different clones. The 2013 release included: Deo Favente, “With God’s Favor” and the “Grand Cru” of the vineyard, made entirely of clone 777; E Pluribus Unum (“Out of Many, One”), a blend from all five clones grown on the property; Terra de Promissio, a tribute to their land, using clones 115 and 777; and Patriae Fidelitas, (Loyalty to Country) an intense, bold wine to honor the bravery of the U.S. Armed Forces.
“By doing this, I’m showcasing what our vineyard is able to do, because when you think about it, it’s the palette of different colors. I can choose navy, or I can make it sky blue, or I can use super dark blood red, or I can make it orange,” Diana Karren said. “There are so many different areas of the vineyard, and I, driving it on my ATV and trapping gophers almost every morning, I know exactly how different areas ripen and the flavor profile of each block, and I have my favorites.” Now, there is a wait list for the Terra de Promissio fruit. While the Karrens plan to remain growers first, production of Land of Promise Wines doubled to 250 cases in 2014, grew to 350 cases in 2015 and today the winery produces 800 cases. The wines are sold in Texas, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.
“I’m an immigrant to this country, and, for me, my vision is for it to be an all-American wine where people remember what America is all about,” Diana Karren said. “America is a country of immigrants that believed in God, and that America is more than just a country. It is an idea, and people; brave men and women fought for this idea. The idea [behind the wine] was to unite people, and kind of remind them, and bring them back to basics. It takes an immigrant to do that.”