The First Vines
In 1987, Giuseppe Rossi bought 47 acres of neglected orchard land in the Mayacamas foothills. The previous owner had given up on apples; the soil was tired, the irrigation lines were shot. Everyone told him he was crazy. He planted 200 Cabernet vines behind the old barn anyway—"just to see," he said.
Those vines are still there. They're the backbone of our Estate Reserve program. Gnarly, low-yielding, and impossible to replace. Giuseppe passed in 2012, but his son Marco walks those same rows every harvest, making the same call: pick when the fruit says so, not when the spreadsheet does.
The Vineyard
Our estate sits at 800–1,200 feet elevation, with south-facing slopes that catch the morning sun and drain cold air into the valley below. The soil is a mix of volcanic bedrock and alluvial deposits—rocky, well-drained, and unforgiving. The vines have to work for it. We like it that way.
We farm organically. No herbicides, no synthetic fertilizers. Cover crops between rows. Compost from our own pomace. It's more work. It's also the only way we know how to do it. The certification came in 2004; the philosophy was there from day one.
The Cellar
Marco Rossi took over winemaking in 1998. His approach: get out of the way. Native yeast fermentations. Minimal sulfur. No fining, no filtering for the reds. The wines are bottled unfiltered—you might see a bit of sediment. That's the vineyard in the bottle.
We produce around 2,000 cases a year across six wines. Small enough to touch every barrel. Large enough to keep the lights on. We're not trying to grow. We're trying to get it right.
The Family
Sofia Rossi joined full-time in 2019. She runs the tasting room, manages the wine club, and handles everything her father would rather not think about. Her grandfather still walks the property every morning—tasting berries, checking the irrigation, complaining about the weather. Some things don't change.
We're not a corporation. We're not a lifestyle brand. We're a family that got into wine and couldn't find the exit. If that sounds like your kind of place, you're welcome anytime.