Belle Pente Vineyard & Winery – Snail Prize CARLTON 12470 NE Rowland Rd. tel. (503) 852-9500 www.bellepente.com wine@bellepente.com 16 ac – 54,000 bt ‘‘Belle Pente is the “insider’s secret” Oregon wine lovers like to keep to themselves’’ PEOPLE New York City man meets smalltown Minnesota woman in the Silicon Valley, and they fall …
Goodfellow Family Cellars MCMINNVILLE 888 NE 8th St. tel. (503) 939-1308 www.goodfellowfamilycellars.com 0ac – 48,000bt PEOPLE Marcus Goodfellow earned a healthy respect for the land by growing up on an 80-acre tree farm near Silverton, Oregon. The fascination with wine came later as he pursued a restaurant career, first in Los Angeles …
Folded Hills – Snail Award 2323 Old Coast Hwy. Buellton, CA 93427 (805) 694-8086 www.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 have impressed our tasting panel with their focus and approachability. …
HEITZ CELLAR (BOTTLE) 436 St. Helena Hwy. St. Helena CA 94574 (707) 963-3542 heitzcellar.com PEOPLE Joe and Alice Heitz were pioneers of the modern American winemaking era. The couple purchased their first property in 1961, a time when only 12 wineries were left in the Napa Valley following the scourge of Prohibition. The incipient …
SKINNER VINEYARDS AND WINERY (COIN) 8054 Fairplay Rd. Somerset CA 95684 (530) 620-2220 skinnervineyards.com PEOPLE After discovering an ancestral connection to a Gold Rush-era miner, rancher, and wine grower named James Skinner, Mike and Carey Skinner purchased property in the El Dorado Hills, along with a century-old stone cellar built by James (Mike’s great, …
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 …
LO-FI WINES PO Box 574 Los Alamos CA 93440 (877) 958-4480 lofi-wines.com PEOPLE Michael Roth and Craig Winchester, friends from college, head up the small, unique, and lively production at Lo-Fi Wines. The name, Lo-Fi, truly emphasizes the way this duo approach their winemaking endeavor. They employ no additions outside of a small amount …
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 …
LA CLARINE FARM (SNAIL) 7721 Snowbird Ln. Somerset CA 95684 (530) 306-3608 laclarinefarm.com Perhaps more than any other California grape grower and winemaker, La Clarine Farm has been able to balance the fine line between minimalist intervention in winemaking and the compelling quality of the wine it produces. PEOPLE Since 2001, Hank Beckmeyer and Caroline …
PORTER CREEK VINEYARDS (BOTTLE) 8735 Westside Rd. Healdsburg CA 95448 (707) 433-6321 portercreekvineyards.com PEOPLE George Davis acquired 40 acres in the Russian River Valley in 1977, with a Burgundian mission in mind. His son, Alex, took the reins some 20 years later and continues to craft wines informed by his experience not just in …