Old Growth Cellars’ Hidden Tasting Room
I was first introduced to Old Growth Cellars when I was assigned to the table next to them, pouring wine at the Oyster Festival. I was relatively new to the local wine industry, and being a twenty-two year old woman, I was also the only person I knew of that represented my demographic at the time. This day at the Oyster Festival was the same as any other in the sense that I felt entirely out of place, but showed up anyway and spent the morning pretending like I knew what I was doing.
It wasn’t until I heard, “Hi, I’m Matt,” that my insecure inner monologue was disrupted. I turned to this new, “Matt” and was surprised to see that not only was he talking to me, but that he was actually close to my age. Matt and I became fast industry friends, often being set up next to one another at events, which allowed us to chat in the downtime. In these conversations, Matt poured me wines from Old Growth Cellars and shared with me how he had inherited his position from his father, Steve Garrett.
Steve began Old Growth Cellars with his friend Jim Pastori in 1999 as a hobby. He and Jim began making wine and eventually graduated to making wine which they were actually confident enough to share. Steve and Jim began working with family-owned vineyards to produce old growth zinfandel and petite sirah, building relationships which have continued to grow with every step of the business.
When Steve passed away in 2010, Matt stepped into his position as partner alongside Jim in Old Growth Cellars. Shortly after Matt and I met in 2015, he moved on to explore a multitude of new adventures and Jim’s long-time friend, Bob Lima, stepped into the position as his new partner.
Jim and Bob continued to expand the business, increasing production until they eventually outgrew the 1900 square foot shop that they had been using as their winery. In shopping for a new space, they found an old truck terminal on Hilfiker Lane in 2017. The larger space suited their winemaking needs, and after a year of renovations, what was the truck terminal’s customer service office became the perfect space for a tasting room.
Turning onto Hilfiker Lane, the last thing you would expect to find amid the industrial lots is a wine tasting room. In fact, it’s easy to think maybe Google Maps has made a mistake except that there is a huge billboard affirming that there is indeed wine tasting ahead. But once you’ve followed the signs and walked through the front door, you find yourself in a beautifully stylized tasting room. Wood and iron accents embrace the industrial surroundings while also making for a warm and inviting feeling, local art hangs on the walls and metal letters spell out “Old Growth Cellars” on the back bar.
The tasting room is open for regular service Tuesday-Saturday from 1pm to 7pm where you can come taste the wide array of wines that they now offer. Of course, they do still make their flagship petite sirah and zinfandel, which are both big, fruit-forward, easy drinkers that any red lovers would enjoy. But they also now make sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir, and even a grenache rosé named after Jim’s granddaughter, Dawsyn.
I mean… do you see the painstaking research that I do for you?!
The winery, with barrels lining the walls, also doubles as an event space. The room is available to rent for private parties and is perfect for any event ranging from wedding and baby showers to holiday parties. Old Growth also hosts events that are open to the public like comedy and magic shows.
Old Growth Cellars is a wonderful example of a local business growing from humble beginnings. On the wooden bar-top sits a bottle with Old Growth’s original label and the name “Steve’s Good Red”. Though they lost a founding partner, the original priorities set by Steve and Jim of making quality wine to share and maintaining long-lasting relationships have always remained the same. The new tasting room is the perfect way to continue sharing their wines with our community, and in turn, is the perfect way for us as a community to show our support.
A version of this article was published in the Humboldt Insider Magazine in Winter/Spring of 2020