We’ve really appreciated the feedback we’ve gotten on Winery names so far and I wanted to encourage any other helpful and creative souls to post a comment if they would like to join the fun.

Probably the most exciting (and intimidating) aspect of starting a winery in the Russian River Valley is our proximity to so many of the best pinot noir producers the world has offer. Below is a quick run down of the closest.

Our nearest neighbor, just across the street, is the Joseph Swan Vineyard and Winery.

Swan was one of the first to plant pinot in the Russian River Valley in 1968, at the urging of mentor and California wine legend André Tchelistcheff. Swan’s early success put the valley on the map and proved that the region is quite capable of producing world class wines. Swan, in turn, encouraged former SF Chronicle Winemaker of the Year, Merry Edwards early in her career. Edwards now produces a vineyard designate wine from Klopp Ranch Vineyard, just down the road. 

To the South, a few acres over, lie Robert Parker favorites Kistler and Dehlinger. Parker has been effusive in his praise for Kistler in particular, going so far as to say that Kistler’s “may be the greatest Pinot Noirs being made in the New World.” 100 point rating silliness and Francophilic tendencies aside, that is certainly some high praise.

Going the other way, to the North are Rochioli Winery (my personal favorite), Williams Selyem, and Gary Farrell. 

Perhaps you can see why we are so excited about the potential of our grapes. It’s a potential that literally keeps me awake at night with excitement.

As an aside, some of the most fun I’ve had has been performing market research on the “competition” listed above (I use the term competition loosely here. For the producers mentioned above, the only real competition they face is themselves: they are all nearly always sold out). Early next year a few friends, my wife, mom and me will be doing a blind tasting of 8-10 local pinots produced in the valley, including select vintages of those listed above. I’m in the process of acquiring the “test samples” now. The results of that informal trial will help us refine our style decisions, and have a bunch of fun in the process.