For more than four decades, winemaker David Bergin and farmers John and Marbry Sipila, longtime back-to-the-landers, have been committed to sustainable living through organic gardening and permaculture. David's homestead is on Red Mountain in Piercy, in the northern most part of Mendocino County; there he has a small vineyard with Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon. About thirty miles southeast, north of Laytonville, is the Sipilas' Redtail Ranch, where John and Marbry grow Syrah, Tempranillo and Zinfandel. Our winery is also located here, completely off the grid, solar-powered, wood-heated and cooled by forest shade, with a barrel-aging cellar dug into the hillside. All waste products are simply composted and returned to the vineyards, offering a model of sustainability.
All our fruit is organically grown, and all red wines are fermented on their own native yeasts. Aged for up to two years in the finest French and American oak and bottled without filtration or any additives, they are a pure expression of their unique terroir. In addition to tending our own grapes for estate-bottled vintages, we also source fruit from local growers, most of whom are third and fourth generation family farmers with deep roots on the North Coast. Our artisanal production is limited to fewer than a thousand cases a year of fine wines. |