Rhys Vineyards – Bottle Prize LOS GATOS 11715 Skyline Blvd. tel. (866) 511-1520 www.rhysvineyards.com 105 ac – 120,000 bt 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 …
Robert Sinskey Vineyards 6320 Silverado Trail Napa CA 94558 (707) 944-9090 robertsinskey.com 178 ac – 240,000 bt Bottle Prize – awarded to wineries whose wines represent benchmarks in quality. PEOPLE In the 1980s, the late Bob Sinskey, a lifetime doctor, foresaw the need for lighter red wines as the American diet began to …
Big Basin Vineyards 830 Memory Lane Boulder Creek (831) 621-8028 bigbasinvineyards.com 10 ac – 60,000 bt Bottle Prize – awarded to wineries whose wines represent benchmarks in quality. PEOPLE Bradley Brown had ridden his mountain bike past the historic ranch before it was even on the market. He purchased the overgrown property in …
Domaine Drouhin Oregon 6750 NE Breyman Orchards Rd. Dayton OR 97114 (503) 864-2700 domainedrouhin.com 130 ac – 294,000 bt Bottle prize – awarded to wineries whose wines represent benchmarks in quality. PEOPLE The Drouhins have been making wine in Burgundy France since the 1880s, but became interested in Oregon after David Lett of the …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …