37th Parallel

Scotts Valley residents Les Wright and Michael Curtis started 37th Parallel in 2005 as something fun to do on the side. Curtis, who is a physician, was making wine in his garage as a hobby but outgrew his space. He teamed with Wright, a CFO of a Silicon Valley gaming start up to had space to expand Curtis' hobby.

The name of the winery refers to the latitude line that runs through the Santa Cruz Mountains and Scotts Valley. the wine is made by the pair in a small cave under a quaint little red house on Granite Creek Road. The home was built in the 1930s by Giaccomo Thiella, a northern Italian immigrant and grandfather to Wright's wife. Giaccomo loved wine so he carved out a wine cave with a pickax and began making Zinfandel from a small vineyard on the property. Now, 75 years later, wine is once again being made in Giaccomo's cave.

The winery was bonded in 2009 and makes about 300 cases a year, primarily Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Grapes are sourced primarily from the Santa Cruz Mountains