OC Register profiles winemaker John Munch
–Excerpts from the Orange County Register–
John Munch, left, with consultant and investor Mary Fox. Courtesy Le Cuvier Winery
Meet John Munch, the Gandalf of Paso Robles
By PAUL HODGINS
When I was researching my book on the winemakers of Paso Robles, one of the most memorable characters I met was John Munch.
With his white beard and scholarly ways, Munch looks like a wise elder from a Tolkien fantasy. It’s clear he enjoys that status among many of the area’s winemakers, who talk about him reverently and affectionately. Some of them owe their start to Munch, who has always been generous with his time and knowledge.
Munch has been working, mostly in the chalky hills west of town, for more than three decades, and his methodical scientist’s mind overcame his initial ignorance of wine to transform him from an amateur into one of the Central Coast’s master winemakers.
He was born in Costa Rica and grew up in several Central American countries, where his American father worked for a fruit company. (His biography on the winery website claimed that missionaries had found him living with a native tribe, which he assured me was a joke “to make myself more interesting.” Yes, he has a quirky sense of humor.)
Munch and his French-born wife decided they wanted to reside in a more rural area.
But the Munches soon fell in love with the land west of Paso. They moved south in 1978 and bought property where Munch’s present winery, Le Cuvier, is located on picturesque Vine Hill Lane. Munch built an impressive home there, largely unassisted.
Munch didn’t intend to become a winemaker; it happened completely by accident, he says.
“A friend told me about a group from the Champagne region in France who were interested in coat-tailing Domaine Chandon.” (The Napa winery was the first American sparkling wine producer set up by a French company, Moët Hennessy.) Munch was asked to do some research on the possibility of duplicating that success elsewhere in the state. “One thing led to another, and the next thing you know I started a cellar – me, with a degree in Old English and no training in microbiology.”
In those days, there were only a handful of commercial wineries in the area. But Munch was determined not to be an amateur at his new trade. “I took all the weekend courses I could at UC Davis. I read all the standard books, but over time abandoned much of the university approach to winemaking.”
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