Matt Trevisan helped spark the Rhone-variety blend movement in Paso Robles when he and his wife Maureen started Linne Calodo in 1998. Matt is also a longtime champion of Zinfandel blends that reflect the heritage of the region. Over the past 25 years, Matt has created some of the region’s most notable and enduring wines, including Rising Tides, Overthinker and Cherry Red. He is driven by a devotion to Paso Robles—its wines, land and community. The winery is named after the calcareous Linne Calodo soils that predominate at the winery’s estate vineyards in the Willow Creek District. Media Inquiries: Sean Weir cw@mooncatcher.com | https://linnecalodo.com/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
We’re nonconformists at heart. We’ll go against the grain when we feel it’s the best for the wine and the land it comes from.
It’s why we’ve focused exclusively on blends since the beginning of Linne Calodo. This goes back to my early days as a winemaker. I’d see people manipulating the crap out of their wines, and I thought, “If you need more acid or weight or flavor in that wine, why not do it with other grapes instead of chemistry and additives?” To me, that’s still the best answer. Of course, it’s much easier to sell wines with names like Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay than to sell blends with names like Nemesis, Rising Tides, and Sticks and Stones. Our wines rarely have more than 75% of any varietal, because we blend in the field, fermenter, barrel, and tank. It certainly doesn’t make our lives easier, but I think it makes the wines more interesting and whole and naturally energetic.
The same goes for our farming. We farm sustainably but haven’t sought any certifications for it. We tap into organic and biodynamic and regenerative. I just call it “nature positive” farming. There’s no script or checklist to follow, it’s very site-specific, and hyper-focused on local resource conservation. By not being boxed in, it frees me up to keep asking tough questions and to discover some interesting answers. No two gardens are alike.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
I was looking at creating barrel caves, and in a world without permits, I might have already started digging. But honestly, I have everything I need in terms of space and equipment and vineyards. I like where I’m at with the peacefulness and artisanal romance of making wine. Whenever I try to push it bigger, it’s just not that much fun. I don’t think in terms of growth and dollars and constantly upgrading equipment. For me, it’s about the sites and the personalities who are making the wines. This isn’t like tech or auto manufacturing where there’s no personal connection, it’s more like sculpting and painting. You can get a new brush, but is that going to make you a better painter? Not really. I already have what I need to do what I love to do.
I guess in a perfect world I wouldn’t have rodents and invasive weeds and frosts and I’d have the right amount of rain every year, and there wouldn’t be any heat waves—but then the wines would be boring, and they wouldn’t tell a story, right? It would be like going to a concert to watch the band play exactly like they do on the album without any improv. Variety is the spice of life and of wine.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
I have to say Cherry Red. It’s a Zinfandel-based blend that conjures the history of Paso Robles. The Zinfandel comes from a 2.3-acre block of head-trained Zinfandel vines at Cherry Vineyard in the Willow Creek District, which was planted in 1977. It’s interspersed with a little Chenin Blanc that we field blend into the wine. We farmed the vines and sourced the fruit on a handshake basis with owners Elmer and Mary Cherry for more than 25 years. Then last year Maureen and I had the privilege of acquiring the vineyard from their heirs, so we now get to protect and steward it for at least another generation. Needless to say, this vineyard and this wine are close to my soul. Cherry Red has that flashy but wily Zin character you’d expect from an old Paso vineyard like this, and it delivers a lot of vivid cherry flavors to match the name. I usually blend in some Syrah, Mourvèdre and Carignan to add some girth to the mouthfeel and flavor profile. It’s a quintessential Linne Calodo wine—deeply rooted, mindfully blended. Take a look at the Wines with Character wine review by clicking here.
Bonus Question: What’s the one thing people would be surprised to learn about you?
I got my private pilot’s license as a sophomore in college. I originally came to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to study Aeronautical engineering but switched to Biochemistry. I’m a self-learned winemaker, but my background in biochemistry made me a fast learner, and my engineering mind has been a big help with the practical side of the job—when stuff breaks down, it’s often up to me to fix it.