Chacewater Winery & Olive Mill

 

Chacewater Winery & Olive Mill (www.chacewaterwine.com) is a family-owned, certified-organic winery and olive mill in Kelseyville, Lake County, California. We have been farming this region for more than three decades. Paul and Kellye Manuel planted their first ten acres of vines in 1988 and in 2008 purchased a 10-acre olive farm and mill from a local monastery, building a 10,000-square-foot winery alongside it. We released our first estate wines in 2011 and were named "Golden State Winery of the Year" in 2012. 

The name Chacewater honors the Cornish village our family emigrated from when Paul's great-grandfather arrived in California's Gold Country in 1880. That same work ethic shows up in how we farm today: a working farm first, certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), with extra virgin olive oils certified by the California Olive Oil Council. 

What we make. We produce 10,000+ cases of wine and 2,000+ cases of extra virgin olive oil each year, estate-grown and organically farmed across 36 acres of wine grapes and 10 acres of olive trees. Our range includes red, white, and premium "Black Label" wines, eight estate olive oils, single-variety and blended, plus Meyer lemon and blood orange, and a line of olive-oil soaps and lotions. We make only small lots, using natural ingredients, to produce artisanal products of distinction. 

Who we serve and how we sell. We reach customers through several channels: a tasting room open daily, a direct-to-consumer e-commerce shop, a wine club and loyalty program, wholesale accounts with boutique retailers, Northern California farmers' markets, and distribution through family-owned Manuel Brothers Distributing. We also earn business-to-business revenue by offering custom crush winemaking and custom olive milling to other producers using our facility and equipment, and hospitality income through the Chacewater Farmhouse guest accommodation. 

We are now extending that reach. We have signed a lease for a second tasting room in Penn Valley, California, in the Sierra Foothills near where our family first planted vines. This new location is designed to accelerate direct sell-through of our inventory and to grow our wine club — our most durable, recurring revenue stream — with a goal of roughly doubling membership from about 1,000 to 2,000 members. 

Our commitment to the land. Beyond organic certification, we are expanding into regenerative agriculture to build soil health and a more resilient farm. We have begun with pasture-raised chickens and row crops, with plans to extend regenerative practices into cattle. 

Our team. Chacewater is run by family alongside seasoned specialists. Paul Manuel (Owner/General Manager) brings a finance degree from CSU Sacramento and 30 years in the family construction business. Matt Manuel (Vineyard Manager) holds a degree in Agricultural Business from Purdue and oversees the organic vineyards and regenerative farming. Lucas Manuel leads distribution and marketing. Alex Manuel, a CPA, serves as Chief Operations and Finance Advisor. Derek Irwin, our consulting winemaker, brings more than 30 harvests across Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake County, and the Sierra Foothills, and Emilio De La Cruz, our Mill Master, has produced the estate's olive oil since the monastery years. 

Recognition. Over more than a decade of winemaking, our wines and olive oils have earned consistent recognition, including being named "Golden State Winery of the Year," strong critical scores across many vintages and varietals, and ongoing certification as an organic producer.