California winemaker’s Grape Crush began at LSU

It’s not often you hear a winemaker say he used to drink Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill exclusively—but that, says Gary Eberle, was the extent of his exposure to wine before an LSU professor showed him the error of his ways.

Today, Eberle is a well-known vintner in Paso Robles, Calif., where Eberle Winery handcrafts more than 25,000 cases annually. But Eberle’s journey into winemaking started in the late 1960s, when he was a doctoral student in zoology at LSU. There, he met biochemistry and molecular biology professor Herbert Dessauer, who invited him to family dinners and restaurant outings—all of which involved an intense exploration of food and wine.

“I remember there were lots of Bordeaux—not that I knew the difference back then—that were incredible,” says Eberle. Wine tasting was relatively new to Americans then, says Eberle, who was 25 at the time. He found it exotic and lively, and he discovered he had quick recall for flavor profiles.

“So much of wine tasting is having a good memory,” he says.

Within six months of his first meal with Dessauer, Eberle decided to pass on a career in genetics. He packed his bags, headed to California and enrolled in the University of California-Davis’ doctoral program for fermentation science. He was determined to become a winemaker.

Eberle graduated in 1973 and was hired as a winemaker for what was then Estrella River Winery, today’s Meridian Vineyards in Paso Robles. The region, located in San Luis Obispo County, was an up-and-comer, acclaimed for its unique growing conditions. Temperatures in “Paso,” he says, can fluctuate 50 degrees between day and night, fostering good red production. Eberle was instrumental in creating the appellation for Paso Robles in 1980.

Eberle’s plan had been to open his own winery, and in the late 1970s he found land in Paso, tested the soil and planted vines. By 1983, Eberle Winery opened with its first release, a 1979 Cabernet Sauvignon. The wild boar logo was inspired by the German translation of the name “Eberle.”

Among the winery’s bottles are the flagship Cabernet Sauvignon, what Eberle describes as a fruit-forward, classic California cab with big tannins and soft edges. The softness, he says, is one of the trademarks of Paso reds. Eberle’s Syrah is dominated by blueberries, and his Zinfandel features notes of raspberries.

Eberle, a Pennsylvania native and former defensive tackle for Penn State, says he still follows LSU football and is a regular at Mardi Gras. Lately, he’s kept an eye on hurricanes. After Hurricane Katrina, he and other Paso Robles producers donated more than $84,000 to relief efforts, specifically to help the hospitality industry and its employees. Eberle alone raised $25,600.

“I have so many good memories of Louisiana,” he says. “It gave me a lot.”