Julian & Sebastian Erggelet know good wine. Their family’s history can be traced back for generations of fine winemaking in Germany, and their own experience began with stealing sips of their Grandfather’s rieslings at home. Despite their familial ties to growing and winemaking, they both pursued other careers; Sebastian in philosophy & economics and Julian in medicine. But the longer they strayed from vineyards, the more they longed to be back.

They finally gave in, packed their bags, and hit the road – each on their own journey – collectively working in countries like France, Spain, Switzerland and Australia to learn everything they could about farming, winemaking and everything in between. In 2014, they both made their way to California, and haven’t looked back.

The two began working in esteemed cellars in Napa Valley and Contra Costa County before – and eventually, while – making their first vintage (2015) of the Erggelet Brothers wines. Sebastian, who studied Viticulture and Oenology while Julian was finishing his medical degree, continues to work in Napa to this day, as the Associate Winemaker at Grgich Hills. Julian handles the viticultural side of things at the family estate in Contra Costa County (at the top of Central Coast, California), managing the farm and winery day-to-day.

Julian and his wife help run her family’s farm, the Cecchini vineyard, in Contra Costa. Here, not only do they practice biodynamic and regenerative farming (of wine grapes, produce, flowers, etc.) but they use the farm for a great deal of community outreach; from inviting the public in for “pick your own” days, to education for fellow farmers (from whatever distance they’re willing to travel) on responsible organic+ farming.

For their own winemaking, intervention is kept to a minimum. After manual harvest, grapes are brought into their newly-built winery and handled with the utmost care: gentle pressing, full and complete spontaneous fermentation; the resulting wines are aged in primarily neutral oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered. The results are pure, energetic expressions of the dynamic and historic Contra Costa region.

Erggelet Brothers: In the Vineyards

The Erggelet Brothers wines are made from primarily two vineyards, both farmed with Organic, minimal intervention/holistic viticulture, in eastern Contra Costa County.

Del Barba Vineyard (Regenerative)

One of the true “old vine” vineyards of California, planted in the early 1900s to Carignane, Zinfandel and Mataro (Mourvèdre). This vineyard is still farmed by the Del Barba family, with Julian lending a hand, and is the home of the Erggelet Brothers Old Vine Zinfandel and Old Vine Carignane. The vines sit on almost pure sand, which is the classic feature of these heritage Californian vineyards – sand also prohibits pests like phylloxera, so many of these gnarly, bush-trained vines are own-rooted.

Cecchini Family Vineyard (Certified Organic)

Julian’s wife, Alli (née Cecchini) was born here, and her family has been farming the vineyard and land for nearly 100 years. The focus

The Urban Edge Farm (Regenerative)

In addition to farming Alli’s family’s land, she and Julian also run The Urban Edge project – a 25 acre, organic and regeneratively farmed polyculture of vines, fruit, vegetables, flowers and animals. True to regenerative farming, the focus here is the health of the soil and biodiversity of the whole land. Just as importantly, Julian, Alli and their families use The Urban Edge to promote and teach these philosophies, bringing in not only members of the public but fellow farmers in Contra Costa and beyond, to extend education and experience in practical organic and regenerative farming.