Jeff Runquist was fresh out of UC Davis, eager to put to practice his degree in fermentation science, when in 1980 he rented a cottage at 10775 Shenandoah Road outside Plymouth and went to work at Montevina Winery.

Nearly three decades later, he returned to Amador County, bought a 5-acre parcel adorned with century-old olive trees and a farmhouse built in 1853, and began to build Jeff Runquist Wines.

The address: 10776 Shenandoah Road, directly across from his original residence in Amador County.

"It took me 25 years to move up one digit," says Runquist, his delivery deadpan, not at all rueful.

He knows his reputation as one of California's more celebrated winemakers is riding high, enhanced almost monthly as the results of another wine competition are unveiled.

For one, he was named Winemaker of the Year by the San Francisco International Wine Competition in June, largely on the strength of the 11 medals his wines were awarded during the judging, including three rare double golds. (A double gold is awarded when a panel unanimously agrees that a wine deserves a gold medal.)

When he received that award, he hadn't yet learned that one of those double-gold wines, his "R" 2007 Amador County Dick Cooper Vineyard Barbera, had been named the best-of-show red at the California State Fair commercial wine contest.

The barbera earlier had been named grand champion of the Pacific Rim International Wine Competition at San Bernardino, as well as best of class in a field of 38 barberas at the Amador County Fair commercial wine judging in Plymouth.

Wowed by petite sirah

Runquist started his winemaking career with six years at Montevina Winery, then put in a brief stint with Napa Valley Cooperative Winery south of St. Helena before joining J. Lohr Winery in San Jose in 1990.

While at Lohr, Runquist got introduced to the black grape petite sirah as it is grown in the Delta.

"That petite sirah just turned my head. It produces a wine with a lot of color and a lot of fruit, but without a lot of tannin," Runquist says.

Lohr was buying its Delta petite sirah from the father-and-son team of Dave and Ken Wilson.

Eager to get his own label going, Runquist sought to buy a couple of tons of the Wilson petite sirah, but the Wilsons wouldn't sell to him.

"Ken Wilson is an incredibly loyal guy. He had a field contract with Lohr, which meant that all the produce off the vineyard – 110 to 130 tons each harvest – went to Lohr. I just wanted 2 tons, but he couldn't do it."

Runquist began to look for other sources of Delta petite sirah, and with the harvest of 2000 started to buy grapes from Enver Salman. The petite sirah he made two years later with Salman fruit won the sweepstakes award at the State Fair in 2004.

At this year's State Fair, in an unprecedented exhibit of winemaking acumen, Runquist made three of the 11 wines nominated for best-of-show red wine. (In selecting the candidates, judges don't know who made the wines.)

In addition to the barbera that won, judges nominated his 2007 petite sirah from the Salman vineyard and the McManis Family Vineyard 2007 California Petite Sirah.

Success at McManis, too

As if the demands of his own brand aren't enough, Runquist heads up winemaking for McManis Family Vineyards, where he will soon finish his 12th harvest. McManis is a large spread of massive fermentation tanks rising in tidy isolation from the flat Central Valley floor just outside of Ripon.

Here, Runquist oversees production of around 1.5 million cases of wine annually, including 300,000 cases of value-oriented everyday releases under the McManis brand and 7,500 cases under his own label.

Gradually, he'll shift production of his wines to his own place in the Shenandoah Valley, expand his portfolio, and likely leave McManis, where he's also racked up a series of impressive awards. For one, the 2007 petite sirah in the running for best of show at the California State Fair earlier had been declared reserve grand champion at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, meaning it was second only to the sweepstakes winner out of 1,800 wines in the rodeo's commercial wine competition.

Reach Mike Dunne at mikedunne@winegigs.com.