Ridge Vineyards was founded in 1959 when three Stanford Research Institute engineers bought an abandoned winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The vineyards had been planted in the late 19th century by a San Francisco physician who produced his first vintage in the original winery, called Monte Bello, in 1892. The first Ridge vintage was in 1962. John Olney is Head…
Winemaker Charles Smith opened the doors to his first winery, K Vintners, in December 2001. His first vintage was 330 cases of 1999 K Syrah. K Vintners is about small lots of single-vineyard Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Tempranillo, Sangiovese and field blends of those grapes, all of which are hand-picked, fermented with naturally occurring yeasts and basket pressed. Boushey Oldfield Block…
Holocene was founded by Todd and Carrie Alexander in 2015. Todd, of course, is the winemaker at Force Majeure and prior to that at Bryant Family Vineyards. Holocene makes two Pinots, a Syrah and a Pinot Gris. Dark crimson in color. 14.6% ABV. Intriguing nose of red fruits, citrus, flowers and forest floor. Medium body with exquisite acidity. Rich and…
Bedrock Wine Co. was founded by Morgan Twain-Peterson in 2007 and focuses on small production wines from many of California’ s most treasured and historic vineyards. The lineup of wines at Bedrock is expanding rapidly, but I think the best of the best are the ancient vineyard Zinfandels, Morgan is clearly passionate about. Papera Ranch is situated in the Russian…
Sandlands is the personal project of Tegan and Olivia Passalacqua. Tegan is the Winemaker and Vineyard Manager at Turley. The line-up encompasses some of the forgotten classic California varieties, primarily grown in decomposed granite from regions and vineyards that have been farmed for many generations but have remained the outliers of California viticulture. The wines made at Sandlands include Syrah,…
Turley Wine Cellars was founded in 1993 by Larry Turley and specializes in small lots of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah from some of California’s most historic and treasured vineyards. Turley now makes right around 50 separate wines from 47 different vineyards, some with vines that date back to the late 1800’s. Tegan Passalacqua is the Director of Winemaking at Turley and…
Force Majeure was founded in 2004 by Paul McBride and made its name pairing some of Washington’s highly acclaimed winemakers with fruit from one of Washington’s highly acclaimed vineyards, Ciel du Cheval. In recent years the winery transitioned from Collaboration wines to Estate wines. Todd Alexander, formerly of Bryant Family Vineyards, is the winemaker for the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Tempranillo.…
Ridge Vineyards was founded in 1959 when three Stanford Research Institute engineers bought an abandoned winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The vineyards had been planted in the late 19th century by a San Francisco physician who produced his first vintage in the original winery, called Monte Bello, in 1892. The first Ridge vintage was in 1962. John Olney is Head…
AldenAlli is a collaboration between the families Dan Kosta and Emeril Lagasse. The winery is named after their wifes Alli Kosta and Alden Lagasse. The initial release was a 2013 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. In 2015 the lineup expanded to include a single vineyard Pinot Noir from Campbell Ranch and a Zinfandel from Limerick Lane Vineyard. More Pinot Noir and…
Brian and Lori Nuss founded Vinoce from high above the valley floor on Mt. Veeder in 1996. Over the last three decades, they have developed an intimate knowledge of growing Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc on the rugged, hillside slopes. Vinoce is devoted to creating wines that reflect the true expressions of Mount Veeder with balance, power, and uniqueness. The…