Satisfying their taste buds

Deirdre Newman

Wine has been a constant magnet for Jeffrey Dobkin and his wife,

Julie Thompson-Dobkin. The robust taste of red wines enticed them

while they were in college, areas with bucolic vineyards appeal to

them for vacation spots and for the past few years, they have felt

the irresistible urge to make wine themselves.

That desire led these Newport Beach residents to make their wine

in Costa Mesa, making Thompkin Cellars the first winery in the city,

they said.

The couple just moved into a modest space on the Westside, where

they are fermenting Cabernet Franc and Syrah grapes for their

Couchant label.

When the vintage they are fermenting now is ready for sale in

2005, its label will proudly boast that it is “produced and bottled

at Thompkin Cellars in Costa Mesa.”

Jeffrey and Julie say they were drawn to making wine because of

the creative process involved.

“It’s nice to be able to do something from beginning to end,

especially when it turns out well,” Jeff said.

Julie and Jeffrey met while attending the University of Wisconsin

in Madison. Their first date was going to a wine-tasting at a

restaurant there. They also enjoyed watching the grapes being crushed

during the harvest season at wineries in Wisconsin and took vacations

to Napa.

Jeff, a gregarious man with a hearty laugh, is partial to Bordeaux

and Spanish red wine. Julie, who is petite with reddish-orange hair,

prefers Rhone and Australian wines.

While drinking wine was enjoyable, it remained only a hobby as

their careers in medicine consumed the lion’s share of their time.

Jeff went into nuclear medicine and Julia became a neurologist.

When they lived in Santa Barbara for a year 10 years ago, they

became friends with residents there who later started their own

wineries. Four years ago, they decided to take the plunge themselves.

“Most people start as consumers and then say, ‘We can do that,’”

Jeff said. “It’s not rocket science. It’s just grapes and yeast.”

With the help of their two sons’ feet, they started making wine in

their garage. Friends and family were impressed with their results

and encouraged them to make more. Eventually, they felt confident

enough to enter their wines in the competition at the Orange County

fair. They won gold for their Cabernet Franc in 1999.

“It was awesome,” Julie said.

The couple chose to make Cabernet Franc wine “with a dollop of

Syrah” because they wanted something different and because there was

a glut of wine when they started, Jeff said. Cabernet Franc is not a

common variety of wine, Jeff said.

“And it’s more aromatic than a Cabernet Sauvignon,” he exclaimed.

Their first commercial vintage debuted in 2001.

As they got more involved in winemaking, Julie cut back on her

practice and started doing some consulting. Jeff continues to work

full time, but takes about four to six weeks off during the harvest

season.

The couple contracts with a vineyard owner in Los Alamos in Santa

Barbara County to grow eight rows of grapes every year. They tell the

owner how to farm their grapes. The couple usually visits the

vineyard in the spring when the grapes are starting to bud, once

during the summer and more frequently during the fall to monitor the

grapes.

Once they decide the grapes are ready to be harvested, they tell

the owner. After the grapes are picked, they are taken to a winery in

Santa Barbara that is owned by a friend of theirs to be de-stemmed.

Jeffrey and Julie chose not to de-stem their grapes in Costa Mesa

because it requires a huge machine and is tremendously loud, they

said. The machine works incredibly fast, though, de-stemming about

six tons of grapes in a mere two hours. Once the grapes are

de-stemmed, the couple brings them to Costa Mesa. The 2003 harvest

arrived Oct. 30.

After they arrive, the grapes are inoculated with freeze-dried

yeast to help them ferment. The fermenting process takes between one

and three weeks.

Since the fermenting process pushes the grape skins to the top of

the fermenter, they need to be pushed down a few times a day to get

maximum circulation of their juices.

During fermentation, the Syrah grapes look like dark blueberries

swimming in a sea of deep purple. Jeffrey and Julie know the grapes

are done fermenting when their residual sugar content has decreased

to zero, they said.

After fermenting the grapes, the couple presses the juice off the

skins and into barrels where it ages for one-and-a-half to two years.

They use French oak barrels instead of American because the French

ones imbue the wine with a smoky taste, Jeff said.

But the barrels don’t come cheap.

The French oak cost $700 a barrel, Jeff said. But each one holds

25 cases, which comes out to 300 bottles.

The couple divides the labor with Jeff handling most of the

production and Julie working on the sales and marketing. Both

participate in tastings.

“When we taste, she’s not shy about expressing her opinion,” Jeff

said.

Trying to get their wine offered in restaurants can be a humbling

experience, Julie said, especially when there is a glut of wine.

“Ours is reasonably priced, but we’re dealing with wine people,

who are not really familiar with [Cabernet Franc],” Julie said.

While their kids -- who are now seven and 10 -- aren’t involved in

the winemaking process anymore, they get a kick out of seeing their

parents’ wine on menus when they go out to dinner.

“They think it’s the greatest thing in the world,” Jeff said.

Ultimately the couple wants to branch out and offer three or four

different wines, Jeff said. The couple’s Couchant 2001 can currently

be found at places like Hi Times Liquor and the Wine Merchant and

restaurants including Scampi, Golden Truffle and Le Quai.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.