Claiborne & Churchill Winery

General information about the Claiborne and Churchill Winery can be obtained at 2649 Carpenter Canyon Road in San Luis Obispo, California. Fredericka and Claiborne Churchill founded the family owned facility during 1983. The two were originally teachers for the University of Michigan and left for California during 1981. Clay worked in a winery in the area to learn the business.

The couple was later encouraged to begin producing their own wine in the host facility. 1983 the first crush had the winery announcing a special focus and produced five hundred and sixty-five cases of Dry Riesling and Dry Gewurztraminer modeled after Alsace, a French province. There are over ten thousand cases of wine produced at the facility now.

The permanent winery building for the Claiborne & Churchill Winery was completed during 1995. The structure with its environmental architecture was California's first. The walls are made of rice straw bales 16 inches thick that allow it to maintain a constant temperature because of the insulation. The insulation means that mechanical cooling and heating are not required.

European techniques for winemaking are still used at the facility including barrel aging. There is very little manipulation of the wine and juice. The facility aims to create enjoyable, natural wines.