It is obvious that you need great grapes to make excellent wine, but you also need proper equipment and a team of experienced winemakers. Modern, Italian-made equipment & close attention to detail are two necessities of winemaking here at Ponte.
Random Ridge is a panoramic 42-acre ranch situated on the southernmost ridge of the Mayacamas Mountains, within Napa’s Mount Veeder appellation.
In the summer of 1979, Bill and Susan Hawley, both 27 years old with a one-year-old son named Emile, acquired this rugged and untamed property. The site was heavily forested and located at the end of a challenging dirt fire road that marked the boundary between Napa and Sonoma Counties.
Bill Hawley named the property Random Ridge on a poetic impulse, believing the name perfectly suited the land’s character. The terrain is steep and rugged, positioned on a 2,200-foot ridge at the edge of Mount Veeder. This area, an ancient uplifted seabed, features rock-strewn decomposed volcanic soils. The northern and eastern views offer vistas of pine-covered mountains with no visible homes, while the southern view provides a breathtaking panorama of the San Francisco Bay, Mount Tamalpais in Marin, and the Golden Gate Bridge. Occasionally, the sunset reveals a glimpse of the ocean, 30 miles to the west, through a gap in the coastal foothills.
With attention to detail in all aspects of the winemaking process Locatelli Vineyards work at extracting the distinct bold flavors of each grape varietal by creating complex, well-balanced, memorable wine.
Hart's Desire had absolutely exceptional wines, and very many at that. They had a lot of varietals that you rarely find elsewhere in Sonoma County except for in blends, such as Malbec, Claret, and Cabernet Franc. Their tasting room has beautiful artwork and has an old school jukebox playing great tunes!
When Kory Koehler acquired the property in 1997, all of the estate grapes were being sold to local wineries. Koehler soon recognized that some of the best wines in the valley were being produced with grapes harvested from her own vineyard so she made the resolved to launch her own winery and tasting room. From the start, Kory Koehler's vision was to create a world-class winery committed to making premium wines at affordable prices.
Before founding Grey Fox Vineyards in 1996, the Arrigoni and Cecchi families spent much of their free time pursuing their passion for flying small planes. It was on these getaways that conversations turned to dreams of planting a vineyard and building a winery. Bruce's family had a tradition of making wine at home and Gary had a good chemistry background. A seed was planted and it began to take hold.
For five generations our family has been growing sustainable winegrapes in the Lodi Appellation and in 2006 we opened a winery to showcase our passion for growing winegrapes – because great wine starts in the vineyard. Building on our successes as a vineyard management company, the winery was our first step into crafting wines made solely from our estate vineyards. Since opening in 2006, we have continued to expand our state-of-the-art winery to keep up with the demand for our LangeTwins wines as well as private labels and custom winemaking services. Unfortunately, our winery is closed for public tastings. If you are visiting the Lodi Appellation, please visit the Lodi Wine & Visitors Center to try our wines as well as other great Lodi selections.
Pronounced "Duck Soup". This winery offers very limited quantities of unique varietals with a total production of only 1500 cases per year. Duxoup was founded in 1981 by two free-spirited, inquisitive winemakers: Deborah and Andrew Cutter. They built the winery with small production, gentle, gravity flow winemaking in mind. Duxoup wines are silky, fruity, and come from venerable vineyards. The wines express not only terroir, but the highly skilled work of the two owners, both experienced and respected for their independence and consistent quality. The wines are rare, but well worth the effort to find. Duxoup produces a Dolcetto, Gamay Noir, Sangiovese, and Syrah.
The wines at Wiens Family Cellars were very good. Not too crowded inside. Good vibe inside. We had a lot of first timers in my group so they were a little unsure of what to do but the staff there were very friendly and eager to answer any questions. The hostess I dealt with was very friendly and had good recommendations. I have to say their "Perspective" blend was a very good red that I enjoyed. I also really like their Cab selection. From what I understand their big reds are in the premier tasting room....that will be my next stop when I return to Temecula Wine and wine country.
When B Cellars’ founder Jim Borsack first encountered his partner Duffy Keys at a fourth of July barbeque in 2002, both executives were exploring new life paths in the wine business. Over a drop of the good stuff, of course, their journeys became intertwined when they discovered that they not only shared the same tastes in wine but were also on parallel missions to acquire vineyard property. Artwork by Wine Artist Agata Zaborowski – Agata Art Gallery Gallery | Agata Art Gallery
