AMPELOS CELLARS 312 N. 9th St. Lompoc CA 93436 (805) 736-9957 ampeloscellars.net PEOPLE Peter and Rebecca Work purchased their 82-acre estate in the Santa Rita hills of Santa Barbara county in 1999 and in 2001, they decided to devote themselves full-time to grape growing and winemaking. Vineyard manager Jeff Newton consults on growing …
SCRIBE (COIN) 2100 Denmark St. Sonoma CA 95476 (707) 939-1858 scribewinery.com PEOPLE The Mariani siblings are fourth-generation California farmers but the first in their family to plant and grow grapes. After dabbling in winemaking during college, brothers Adam and Andrew took off to Europe to pursue independent winery internships — Andrew in Greece and …
OLD WORLD WINERY 850 River Rd. Fulton CA 95439 (707) 490-6696 oldworldwinery.com PEOPLE Giuseppe Martinelli emigrated from Lucca to the Italian enclave of northern California in the late 1800s where he followed in the footsteps of many immigrants of the time by planting grapes. Fastrack 100 years and those same vines are being tended …
LITTORAI (BOTTLE) 788 Gold Ridge Rd. Sebastopol CA 95472 (707) 823-9586 littorai.com PEOPLE Ted and Heidi Lemon founded and own Littorai. Ted serves as winemaker and vineyard manager while Heidi leads the business. VINEYARDS Littorai owns both the Pivot vineyard in Sonoma’s Sebastopol Hills area of the Sonoma Coast, and also the …
ACUMEN (BOTTLE) 1315 1st St. Napa CA 94559 (707) 492-8336 acumenwine.com PEOPLE Garrett Buckland serves as viticulturist for Acumen vineyards. While Henrik Poulsen is lead winemaker. At its inception Steve Matthiasson helped to lead viticulture alongside Buckland Denis Malbec served as founding winemaker until his death in 2016. VINEYARDS Sitting near the top …
FOLDED HILLS (SNAIL) 53 Industrial Way Buellton CA 93427 (805) 694-8086 foldedhills.com There couldn’t be a better estate to represent the marriage of sustainable viticulture and extreme value in the final product. Across the board, the wines from this estate impressed our tasting panel with their focus and approachability. PEOPLE Folded Hills is a …
GIORNATA (SNAIL) 470 Marquita Ave. A Paso Robles CA 93446 Tel. (805) 434-3075 giornatawine.com Few California wineries can rival Giornata’s equilibrium of value and quality. This is an estate where sustainable farming practices translate into some of the state’s most delicious and food-friendly wines, at consumer-friendly prices. PEOPLE After a stint at Isole e …
Above: A view of the original Syrah vineyard as seen from David and Anna’s front porch. They started farming organically there in 2012 and are currently working toward biodynamic certification. SOLMINER (SNAIL) PO Box 935 Los Olivos CA 93441 (805) 691-9195 solminer.com For the deLaski family and the small farm where they live with …
VESPER VINEYARDS 298 Enterprise St. Escondido CA 92029 (760) 749-1300 vespervineyards.com PEOPLE Grower and winemaker Chris Broomell’s family has been farming in the San Pasqual Valley AVA (San Diego County) for five generations. But it wasn’t until after World War II that they turned to fine wine grape growing when an Australian relative …
BEDROCK WINE CO. (SNAIL) 21481 8th St. East Sonoma CA 95476 (707) 343-1478 bedrockwineco.com Bedrock Wine Co. is the apotheosis of the current California wine revolution. Its work with Zinfandel and other heritage grapes from California has shown the world that these grapes can produce compelling, world-class wines with immense appeal for the contemporary palate. …