Craig Haarmeyer
Age: 49
What he does: Showcases what he calls “Sacramento terroir” in wines made from inland California vineyards.
Backstory: Haarmeyer’s father developed the Old Sacramento historic district, and his mother ran restaurants, which meant the Sacramento native was surrounded by culinary figures like Darrell Corti and Biba Caggiano. He came to San Francisco to study at the Art Institute, and tried his hand at home brewing. But he followed his fiancee back to Sacramento, where family friends introduced him to Charlie Meyers, whose Harbor Winery was one of the capital’s only urban wineries after Prohibition. Haarmeyer learned winemaking ropes from Meyers while continuing to paint and take IT jobs, but in 2007 a childhood friend was planning to open what would become Revolution Wines in downtown Sacramento, and asked Haarmeyer to help. Two years later he was the winemaker and decided to focus solely on the region’s vineyards — Chenin Blanc in Clarksburg, Sauvignon Blanc from Yolo, Zinfandel from Lodi and the foothills, both for Revolution and his own St. Rey label. Today he makes an astonishing diversity of wines, from naturally sparkling Chenin to Sangiovese from the Cosumnes River area, with more to come — even a dry vermouth. As such, Haarmeyer and Revolution (which operates a small bistro) have become focal points in the city’s small crew of brewers and winemakers, helping River City to share in the sort of urban artisanship that thrives in the Bay Area.
Harvest fuel: Charcuterie and cheese from the tasting room. And sparkling water — Perrier or Lurisia.
Dream project: “I would like to have my own vineyards in an area where I could dig my own caves and make only, or mostly, dry white wines. Both still and sparkling.”
From the notebook: Haarmeyer makes an astonishing range, but his St. Rey Chenin Blanc ($25) and a related sparkling version are
some of the best examples from Clarksburg. The balsam-y Revolu
tion Celeste Red ($30), a mix of Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese, proves his point about Sacramento County’s potential.
“It’s not like Sonoma or Napa, where growers for the most part understand the end result is pretty high-quality wine. Here, inland? The definition of a good crop is a big one. It’s my task to convince these guys that we need to drop some fruit, we need to pick early. Some guys get it, other guys don’t.”