The cacophony of noise coming from the ready-mix concrete plant across the street from Donkey & Goat’s campus doesn’t necessarily suggest that quality wine is being made anywhere nearby. Isn’t a normal California wine experience supposed to include extravagant scenery, modern art sculptures and patios overlooking millions of dollars worth of real estate?
Yet, the wine world can get so caught up in the lavishness of its own physical location that the quality of the wine falls to second behind an overall tasting experience. Berkeley is an up and coming hallmark of Bay Area winemaking that exceeds the need for fluff and exorbitance. The Gilman District, as well as boasting industrial capacity, is home to a plethora of talented natural winemakers. Donkey & Goat is home to its first.
After leaving the tech industry in 2002, founder Jared Brandt decided to take a crack at winemaking through an internship with famed French natural winemaker Eric Texier in the Rhône Valley. Brandt’s neighbor in France had a donkey trained to eat the weeds along the center of the vineyard rows without eating any of the grape leaves, the donkey discouraged by the cayenne pepper sprinkled on the leaves. Ultimately, the donkey got lonely, and so a goat was brought in as a companion. The idea stuck.
Upon his return in the early 2000s and following implementation of the natural winemaking processes he learned overseas, Brandt became known as a godfather figure in the East Bay, supporting multiple other winemakers to set up shop in Berkeley, including Hammerling, Broc Cellars and Tessier.
Brandt has been in the natural winemaking world long enough that he was one of the first in America to learn how to make pet nat, of all things, through an email from another French winemaker. Pétillant naturel is a sparkling wine that’s made of partially fermented grapes, allowing the remaining sugars in those grapes to finish the process in bottle. No one had done it before; therefore, Donkey & Goat was the first to commercially release pet nat in the United States. The genesis of this wine has deeply benefited from the natural wine boom in recent years.
To make a wine that one yearns to make is a refreshing principle. It’s difficult, especially amidst an economic downturn in the wine industry, to replace the likelihood of profit with a sauvignon blanc made in stainless steel for the trial and error of a skin ferment roussanne from an open top wood vat. But experimentation is the name of the game at Donkey & Goat.
Pinot meunier, a variety commonly reserved as one of the three blending grapes in traditional Champagne, is made as a single varietal dry red. It’s like a perfectly balanced berry pie in liquid form. The common theme among almost every wine at Donkey & Goat is the simplicity and intentionality in the winemaking process, as well as the wine’s ability to convert those not interested in trying anything new. Natural wine isn’t a new concept, but the execution has gotten significantly better.
They currently make 15 different wines, and they’ve trimmed down production. Two to three years ago, it was 26. “People don’t make a lot of money in the wine business, so why don’t you make what you want to make?” Brandt says as he pours a taste of a white blend consisting of roussanne, gruner veltliner, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc.
Donkey & Goat makes so many wines, in fact, that Hobbes the wine dog has one named after him. It’s a merlot, cabernet sauvignon blend that screams with vibrancy and shine. Even their most “stereotypical” California wine is unique to their palates. Hobbes is a great dog, so no wonder it’s a great wine.
We walked into the barrel room, an attachment to the original building once used as the Flint Ink factory from 1906 to 1978. Remnants of its past life are still visible in soot stains on the walls. It was completely abandoned when Brandt came along in 2009. A warehouse that was once full of graffiti, needles and shin-high weeds is now filled with barrels awaiting winemaker Connor Bockman’s watchful eye.
Bockman, a UC Davis graduate, solely lets the ambient yeasts that reside in the building itself impact the wine. It’s known as “house culture” and makes for a more natural, low intervention style that caters to a Berkeley clientele desiring a product sans chemical manipulation.
Brandt has found his wines on the shelves of numerous local wine bars and merchants who share a similar worldview. There are many of those who are tired of settling for wines with added citric acid, cheap oak chips and even food coloring. A “do nothing” approach in the vinification process is much better than doing too much. Donkey & Goat delivers on that simplicity. As a bonus, sustainability and quality come along for the ride.
Due to a dry climate and the natural bay air conditioning, “This location is extremely suitable for winemaking,” Bockman explains. With a majority of their offerings being of single vineyard designations, an intentional decision that translates directly to the overall quality of the wine, Bockman and his crew will drive a truck and trailer all over Northern California to source their fruit.
“We’re two hours from everywhere,” Bockman says. Brandt and Bockman have personal relationships with vineyard owners from all across Napa, Sonoma, Monterey County and even parts of Lodi influenced by the Mokelumne River. Their relationships with these vineyard managers are their lifeblood and have fostered Donkey & Goat into a developed and respected brand.
Favorites to Try:
“Triple Lindy” White Blend ($36)
Stone Crusher, Fenaughty Vineyard Skin Ferment Roussanne ($42)
Dommen Vineyard Pinot Meunier ($38)
“Hobbes” Merlot + Cabernet Sauvignon ($50)
Donkey & Goat Winery, 1340 Fifth St., Berkeley, 510.868.9174; donkeyandgoat.com. Tasting room and wine shop is open Mon-Fri, 12-4pm (by appointment only); Thu-Fri 4-8pm; Sat-Sun 1-7pm.
