SPOTTSWOODE (BOTTLE) 1902 Madrona Ave. St. Helena CA 94574 (707) 963-0134 spottswoode.com PEOPLE Founder Mary Novak led Spottswoode for over two decades. Today her daughters run the business. Beth Novak Milliken serves as president and CEO to the estate while her sister Lindy Novak acts as national sales manager. Aron Weinkauf serves as winemaker. Spottswoode …
SMITH-MADRONE (BOTTLE) 4022 Spring Mountain Rd. St. Helena CA 94574 (707) 963-2283 smithmadrone.com PEOPLE Brothers Stu and Charles Smith arrived on Spring Mountain in 1971, when it was still mostly uninhabited—though they soon discovered that the site that would become Smith-Madrone was planted to vineyards prior to Prohibition. More than 40 years later, theirs is …
WIND GAP (BOTTLE) 6780 McKinley St., Suite 170 Sebastopol CA 95472 (707) 331-1393 windgapwines.com PEOPLE Pax and Pamela Mahle established Wind Gap as a way to focus their coastal Syrah vineyard sources in a more geographically and stylistically cohesive label. Having always made naturally low alcohol high acid wines thanks to the proximity to …
PENCE 1909 CA-246 Buellton CA 93427 (805) 735-7000 pencevineyards.com PEOPLE Pence Ranch is overseen by Blair Pence, winegrower and proprietor, who set out to bring together the best team to oversee vineyard management and winemaking. Sashi Moorman is the tireless whirlwind behind the wines while the vineyards are managed by Francisco Ramirez. VINEYARDS 38 acres …
LEDGE VINEYARDS 5414 Vineyard Dr. Paso Robles CA 93446 (805) 434-8663 ledgevineyards.com PEOPLE Owners Mark and Ciera Adams are musicians turned winegrowers, perhaps explaining why they make such soulful wines. When his family moved back to Paso Robles to farm the family property, he was inspired to plant vineyard instead of orchards thanks to …
RADIO COTEAU 2040 Barlow Ln. Sebastopol CA 95472 (707) 823-2578 radiocoteau.com PEOPLE Winegrower Eric Sussman studied agriculture at Cornell University before heading off to France to work at various wineries in Bordeaux and Burgundy. A dedication to cool climate coastal vineyards drew him to the area of Occidental, not far from the Pacific Ocean. …
RIDGE VINEYARDS (BOTTLE) 17100 Montebello Rd. Cupertino CA 95014 (408) 867-3233 ridgewine.com PEOPLE Osea Perrone, a doctor from San Francisco, first purchased the Monte Bello Ridge property in 1885 and the first Monte Bello wine was produced in 1892. 70 years later, four friends and Stanford researchers founded Ridge Vineyards bottling their first Zinfandel …
COBB WINES (BOTTLE) 18100 Fitzpatrick Ln. Occidental CA 95465 (707) 874-1962 cobbwines.com PEOPLE Ross Cobb studied Agro Ecology and Sustainable Agriculture at University of California Santa Cruz with an emphasis on living soil, thus paving the way for a lifetime dedicated to maintaining soil health and integrity. Prior to 2016, Ross worked for a number …
RHYS VINEYARDS (BOTTLE) 11715 Skyline Blvd. Los Gatos CA 95033 (866) 511-1520 rhysvineyards.com PEOPLE The 2004 harvest was the first vintage released by entrepreneur Kevin Harvey’s Rhys Vineyards (pronounced REESE), one of the bright new stars of California winemaking today. Javier Tapia is the winery’s vineyard manager, Jeff Brinkman its winemaker and manager of …
FROG’S LEAP (COIN) 8815 Conn Creek Rd. Rutherford CA 94573 (707) 963-4704 frogsleap.com PEOPLE Frog’s Leap is the epitome of a family winery, headed by the Williams family (founder John and son Rory) and flanked by the many vineyard workers, their sons, nephews, and other relatives that have joined the winery over the years. The …