kc history page 2

The History of
American Champagne
The Korbel story is more than a part
of the history of winemaking in
Sonoma County, California. It is the
saga of two enterprising families with
pioneer spirits and old-world
resourcefulness who had a vision of
what could be done with the great
opportunities emerging from the
development of this country.
Although generations apart, the
Korbel and Heck families created and
preserved a singular tradition of
champagne-making excellence that
has now been in existence for 125
years.
The Pioneering Korbels
In the mid-1800’s, America offered
new hope to three brothers seeking
to escape political unrest in their
European homeland. Emigrating
from Czechoslovakia to the United
States, brothers Francis, Anton and
Joseph Korbel found success in
exchange for their hard work and
innovation. F. Korbel & Bros. began
as a manufacturing business in San
Francisco that produced materials for
the building industry. As their
enterprise expanded, the brothers
eventually acquired a sawmill and
began a full-scale lumber operation
near the town of Guerneville in
Sonoma County.
The Korbels, born in the farmlands of
the province of Bohemia (today’s
western Czechoslovakia), found the
remote and rugged redwood country
in Sonoma County irresistible. Lured
by the beauty and opportunity of the
mountainous timberlands, the
brothers eventually moved their
families from San Francisco and
settled in the Russian River Valley.
As Northern California’s lumber boom
slowed, the Korbels turned their
attention to farming the bottomlands
of their Russian River Valley ranch.
Here the soil was sandy, the
mornings were filled with fog from
the nearby Pacific Ocean, and
summer days were long with
sunshine.
In 1882, the three brothers began a
small winemaking operation at their
ranch and produced some 20,000 to
30,000 gallons of wine from their
vineyard yields. Korbel wines were
so well received that two years later
the brothers closed their dairy,
converted all of their ranch lands to
vineyards, and devoted all of their
energy to winemaking. A tradition
that was to become a legacy was
well under way.
The First Korbel Champagnes
The Korbel winery continued to grow
throughout the 1880’s. It was
during this time that the Korbels sent
for winemaker Frank Hasek in Prague
to come to the United States to be
“A tradition that was to become their champagne master. Employing
a legacy
the time-honored French method of
was well under way”
producing champagne, méthode
champenoise, the Korbels quietly,
but aggressively, experimented with
It would be in this valley that the
cuvées. By the mid-1890’s, the
Korbels’ love of the land, their
Korbels shipped their first
unmatched enthusiasm for hard work champagnes, and by the turn of the
and their spirit for enterprise would
century Korbel was an internationally
lead them to create a great American known, award-winning label.
champagne.
During the late 1870’s, the Korbels
raised prunes, beets, wheat, corn,
alfalfa, and operated a commercial
dairy. During this time, they planted
their first vineyards and began
experimenting with different grape
varieties, including Pinot Noir -- early
evidence of the Korbels’ ambition to
become champagne producers.
Pinot Noir was an unusual variety for
California; it was known primarily as
the principal grape of the
Champagne region of France.
Korbel Survives Prohibition
Prohibition in the 1920’s forced the
permanent closing of many wineries
across the country. The era tested
the family’s ingenuity, but the Korbel
winery survived by depending on the
brothers’ other business ventures
and accumulated resources. Sadly,
Francis, Joseph and Anton all passed
away before Repeal in 1933, and
none of them lived to see
champagne production resume at the
winery. They died not knowing their
champagne creation had become an
enduring legacy.
History continued...
Fortunately, a second generation of
Korbels successfully carried on the
family’s commitment and produced
méthode champenoise champagnes
from the late 1930’s to 1954. By the
1950’s, the large winery building
constructed from the Korbel brothers’
own hand-made bricks nearly 70
years earlier had been expanded, and
more vineyards had been planted.
The home place that had once been
the center of the family’s life was still
standing - a quiet reminder of the
early days of ranch life at Korbel.
Eventually, each of the seven Korbel
cousins who owned Korbel
Champagne Cellars agreed it was
time to sell the winery and vineyards
-- but only on certain terms. The
surviving Korbels, seeking to
preserve the legacy begun by their
fathers, would insist that the buyer
carry on the Korbel tradition of
producing fine champagne by the
méthode champenoise. They would
also insist that the winery must
operate as a family business, and
that the company would be forever
known as Korbel Champagne Cellars.
The one buyer who satisfied all of
those conditions was a determined
young winemaker named Adolf Heck.
In 1954, 72 years after it was
founded by the Korbel brothers,
Korbel Champagne Cellars was sold
to Heck, thus introducing a new
chapter and a new family into the
Korbel story.
First Champagne For American
Tastes
Adolf Heck brought a new spirit to
the internationally known Korbel
Champagne Cellars. The Korbel
home place was alive once again, this
time with a new family. Planting
methods and production facilities
were updated, and new products
began to emerge with the famous
Korbel label.
Second Generation: Gary Heck
Korbel grew impressively during
Adolf’s 30 years of leadership. That
growth has continued since Adolf’s
son, Gary Heck, was appointed the
company’s president in 1982 and
named the chairman of the board in
1984.
In keeping with his promise that
Korbel would remain family-owned
and operated, Adolf had prepared
As the new owner of Korbel, Adolf set Gary for his role by requiring him to
learn the champagne making
out to pioneer what he described as
business from the vineyards to the
“California-style” champagnes.
These wines displayed more fruit and marketplace. Consequently, Gary
has been active in nearly every
less yeast than was typical of
aspect of the winery operation, from
European champagnes. In 1956 he
harvesting grapes by hand to sales
reintroduced Korbel Brut in a style
administration. Growing up in the
that was lighter and drier than any
American champagne on the market, original home place of the Korbels
and working daily at the winery, Gary
making it the first champagne
has a lifetime of experience to guide
developed specifically for American
tastes. Adolf’s energetic creativity as him as he continues the legacy of
Korbel.
champagne master continued with
the introduction of additional cuvées.
Gary shares his late father’s pride
Taking advantage of Sonoma
and passion for Korbel -- a key
County’s ability to produce high
ingredient in the brand’s success.
quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
Under Gary’s guidance, Korbel
grapes, Adolf introduced Korbel
enjoyed double-digit growth during
Natural’, Korbel Blanc de Blancs
the 1980’s, and the brand currently
(100% Chardonnay) and Korbel
sells more than 1.2 million cases
Blanc de Noirs (100% Pinot Noir) -annually.
all of which he created using
champagne yeasts he had developed
Korbel. It is a name that tells the
himself.
unique story of two families -- their
dreams, determination and
Innovative and determined, Adolf
dedication -- and it is a name that
worked constantly to improve the
stands for 125 years of fine méthode
production and technical aspects of
champenoise champagnes.
champagne making. In 1966, Adolf
invented and patented the first
automatic riddling machine. In the
past, riddling was done by hand at
wineries -- a costly and timeconsuming method that left the
champagne’s quality vulnerable to
the variability of many human hands.
Adolf’s invention allowed each bottle
of Korbel champagne to undergo
exact turns at precise times. The
introduction of his riddling machine
into the production of Korbel
champagnes ensured consistent taste
and quality in every bottle.