Dear Member,
“Will they hate this?” we wondered in June of 2020.
We had just finished sourcing our first-ever American Collection—a group of six small-batch bottles not widely available outside their home states. Like everything we do at the Partnership, it was an experiment. We couldn’t be sure how members—so accustomed to our small-batch foreign wines—would receive a domestic collection.
They loved it.
In particular, members responded to the Washington State Tempranillo and the Happy Canyon Cabernet.
This quarter, faced with an international shipping jam that made it difficult for our small producers abroad to get wines to us on time, we decided to return to the West Coast. This time, however, we focused our search on just one area: the northern California wine corridor established under the Spanish mission network in the 1700s.
A Northern California Journey
In 1782, when the region was known as Alta California, Spaniards brought vines to Ballard Canyon (outside what is now Santa Barbara) to support their missions through wine sales. That is where we began this new collection.
There, we found a dry-farmed vineyard run by two generations of the Stolpman family. Working with a vigneron dubbed “the grape whisperer” by Wine Enthusiast, they produce Syrah of remarkable character—stone, fresh berries—that rivals the best of the French Rhône. No additives. No commercial yeast. No machine harvesting.
We continued north through Napa, where we discovered a surprising Cabernet Sauvignon (with a Petit Verdot kick) made by a winemaker who sold his first vintage straight from his car. With wine this good, you don’t need a fancy label.
From there, we followed the coast above San Francisco, past the foggy fishing villages of Bodega Bay, then east along the Russian River to the misty Chardonnay vineyards of the Sonoma Coast AVA. (An AVA is the American equivalent of Italy’s DOCG or France’s AOC.)
The farther north you travel from Napa, the more idiosyncratic and isolated the vineyards become.
Instead of machines spraying fertilizer, you find flocks of sheep munching—and fertilizing—between the rows. Instead of vast, manicured landscapes, vineyards disappear into forests of redwood and sycamore, with the occasional pot farm tucked discreetly nearby.
In Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley, we encountered a blend of Alsace and Burgundy influences—and the first wine we have ever recommended pairing with a turkey burger.
To the east, in High Valley, we found a low-intervention vineyard producing not the usual delicate organic wine, but a 93-point, full-throttle Cabernet Sauvignon.
In This Box
You will find six bottles:
Edict Pinot Noir 2019
Ovis Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
Landy Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2019
Verdon Estate No. 3 Blueline Vineyards Red Blend 2018
Auctioneer Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Stolpman Vineyards Estate Grown Syrah 2018
For those of us who usually balk at California wines, this collection is a reminder that wherever you look, there are gems to be found.
To your health,
Will Bonner
Founder, Bonner Private Wine Partnership
