On a dusty fall Friday in 2016, young Austin Chin, tired of roaming the world working harvests at far-flung wineries, was out delivering his resume to potential employers in the Silicon Valley.
Fortuitously, and somewhat cautiously, he ignored the “closed” sign at the bottom of Mount Eden Road in the hills of Saratoga and kept going. The road turned to dirt, growing steeper, narrower and more perilous with each turn, but the avid outdoorsman felt a sense of kinship with the looming remoteness. He passed yet another “closed” sign. And kept going.
“I knew of the reputation of Mount Eden Vineyards, but … I had never even tried the wines,” says Chin, who grew up in Concord. “I knew they had vineyards, and I felt it was necessary to go down this path to be a competent winemaker.”
That path led to the top of the mountain, where Chin found Ellie Patterson, who ran Mount Eden along with her winemaker husband Jeffrey. “I explained that I was looking for a job and handed her my resume,” Chin recalls.
That night, Chin got a call from Jeffrey Patterson, who hired him in the winter of 2016. After stints in Santa Maria, Sonoma and New Zealand, Chin was ready to set down roots and be closer to his friends in the South Bay.
He learned a new skill right off the bat, as he was tasked with pruning vines. “It was a wild, wet winter, the first year after a drought, and I had never pruned before,” Chin says. “I remember it was 35 degrees and pouring rain, and the wind blew at 40mph for three months straight.”
Patterson, soft-spoken and kind, yet stern, proved a master educator. “I have never worked with someone with such a grasp of the wines he is making and such a vast knowledge of the styles that have come and gone historically,” says Chin. “Once I started working for him, I realized there was so much more to learn than I ever thought.”
After eight years of living on that mountaintop, tending the vines and working side by side with Patterson in the cellar to shepherd the wines in the Mount Eden style, Chin now holds the title of winemaker at Mount Eden Vineyards.
Patterson, who has stepped into the new role of winemaker emeritus after 44 years, says the change “feels good.”
“I still work in the vineyards even days a week. Austin is a really good worker, and I wanted to keep him. He’s 32 and has a good head on his shoulders, and he is still learning. Plus, he has taught me new stuff, so it’s a good match.”
Chin had been doing a lot of the basic winemaking anyway, but was not making the calls on purchasing cork, glass and barrels. Says Patterson, “Nothing has really changed except on paper. We make our wines from the same vineyards every year and we keep things the same, except maybe for some small changes to the barrel regimen. We are a traditional winery, and we have been doing the same thing forever.”
That said, there are some things Patterson is happy to delegate. “I’m 72, and I don’t want to be responsible for scheduling and ordering bottling supplies.”
Chin feels grateful to have fit in at Mount Eden, where the work is hard and conditions can be brutal but everyone has the same mentality.
“It can be challenging,” says Chin, “but you need to see the blessings in front of you.”
Mount Eden Vineyards, located at 22020 Mount Eden Road in Saratoga, is open for tasting on weekdays from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., by appointment only to https://www.mounteden.com/visitus or 408-867-5832. ext. 15.
