About the winery
Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards is the winery at Garrod Farms, a family farm in the hills above Saratoga that also runs riding stables1. David and Sophia Garrod came from Suffolk, England, in 1892, and in 1893 bought 66 acres from the Mt. Eden Orchard and Vineyard Company. For decades the family dried prunes and apricots there; as the orchards gave way, the stables opened in 19621.
The first vines went in in 1972, Cabernet Sauvignon cuttings from the nearby Paul Masson vineyard1. George Cooper, who had married Louise Garrod, was the founding winemaker, and his nephew Jan Garrod managed the vines1. Cooper, born in Idaho in 1916, flew fighters in Europe in the Second World War and became a test pilot at the Ames laboratory in 1945, retiring as chief of flight operations at NASA Ames in 19736. The first Cooper-Garrod wine was released in the spring of 1994, and that fall the Fruit House, a 1922 building made from an old Los Gatos railroad depot warehouse, opened as the tasting room1,5. The Test Pilot blends are named after aircraft he flew3.
Five generations on, the family runs the farm: Jan Garrod is general manager and Trevor Garrod makes the wine1. All 28 acres of vines have been certified organic since 2011, and in 2010 Cooper-Garrod was one of the first three California wineries certified sustainable1. Its estate wines run from Viognier and Chardonnay to Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon4.
Known for
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Cabernet Franc
- Chardonnay
- Test Pilot blends
- certified organic estate vineyards
Nearby in Santa Cruz Mountains
- Roudon-Smith Winery SaratogaOpen
- Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards SaratogaOpen
- Aptos Vineyard AptosOpen
- Bargetto Winery SoquelOpen
