Cinequest audiences connect with film about Saratoga winemaking family

Local filmmaker and Los Gatos native Chris McGilvray says viewers of “Eden,” his documentary about the transition of Mount Eden Winery in Saratoga to the next generation of the family that runs it, seem to identify with the people on screen.

McGilvray, who runs Nomadic Bear Productions out of Santa Cruz, adds that the film sparks many conversations, especially those that people avoid but probably should have.

The audience at the Cinequest Film and Creativity Festival in March, where more than 700 people attended a screening of the film at the California Theater in San Jose, apparently felt a connection to McGilvray’s seven-year exploration of the winery and the family that runs it. “Eden” earned a Cinequest Audience Award for Best Documentary, tied with “Of Color and Ink” by Weimin Zhang.

The project began as an ode to the rugged beauty of the Saratoga hills on the eastern edge of the Santa Cruz Mountains winegrowing region. McGilvray and cinematographer Isiah Flores filmed at the beautiful mountaintop property that was once owned by Paul Masson and later sold to Martin Ray, founder of Martin Ray Vineyards & Winery. The property later became Mount Eden Vineyards, and has been under the stewardship of Ellie and Jeffrey Patterson since 1983.

McGilvray interviewed the couple while fastidiously documenting the seasons in the vineyard, often arriving before dawn to capture workers pruning in late winter, leaf-thinning in summer or picking at harvest. It was when he spoke with the couple’s children, Sophie and Reid, that the film took on larger themes of family dynamics and the reality that children do not often share their parents’ dreams.

“This is a very important film,” says Ellie Patterson. “It’s not really about wine at all. It’s about identity and evolution, and family business and succession. It’s about being stewards of the land.”

Vintner Jeffrey Patterson echoes that sentiment. “It shows the nitty gritty of mountain winemaking: the dirt and the dust and the bright sun and the beauty of the vineyards and the romance of it. But this is not a romantic film.”

The storyline took shape when Reid, who was 25 when the filming began, admitted that he didn’t want to carry on the winery legacy. Torn, Ellie and Jeffrey came close to selling the business, but over the seven years of filming, Reid transitioned from wanting nothing to do with the wine industry—pursuing coffee growing instead—to coming back home, where he today manages both Mount Eden and the family’s second brand, Domaine Eden.

Daughter Sophie Patterson Sharabi admits growing up on a mountaintop as a child was extremely isolating. “I got a job at 16 to be off the mountain and to establish my own identity,” she says. “I went off to college and was gone.”

Sharabi, along with her husband and daughter, moved back to Los Gatos in 2019, around the same time as her brother. “It was time to return to our roots,” she says. “We work really well together. We collaborate and are a lot closer now.”

Sharabi wanted to be a midwife after participating in the at-home birth of her brother, who is seven years younger. She became a fertility nurse, and started Gentle Touch Fertility Services, a home-based business that helps couples overcome infertility. She is also actively involved with both Mount Eden and Domaine Eden.

When their children initially expressed zero interest in taking over the winery, Jeffrey and Ellie retained a consultant to put the business up for sale. After the first prospective buyer came to tour the place, Patterson recalls, “I looked at Ellie and asked, ‘Do we really want to do this?’  She said ‘No,’ and I said, ‘Well, I don’t want to do it, either!’ We had the exact same thought in that moment. When you work so hard and for so long, over the course of many decades, it is hard to walk away.”

The film is timely, as there is much discussion of succession in the wine industry. “There was an incredible boom in the 1970s, when well-known wine companies began,” says Patterson. “And now those people are getting old, and if they don’t have family that want to take over, they end up selling.”

Although the Pattersons are now divorced, Ellie is still actively involved in the winery business. “Eden” touches on the couple’s breakup, but the potential plot twist isn’t fully explored.

While seeking exposure at additional film festivals, McGilvray is currently looking for a distribution partner to bring the film to a wider audience.

Jeffrey Patterson says winemaking tends to be romanticized in film and popular culture. “Sure, dinner parties are glamorous, but making wines 12 months out of the year is not,” he adds. “This film has an authenticity that I like. I am proud of that.”