David Hirsch remembers how far away from civilization his property, located in the mountains above Fort Ross, seemed when he bought it in 1978.
âThings were pretty remote,â the grower/vintner, now 68, says. âTo get to my place, you had to go through five cattle gates on dirt roads.â
The paved county road ended six miles away, which meant Hirsch had to travel that far to get to his mailbox. Except for a few sheep farmers whose ancestors had settled the hills in the 19th century, Hirsch was one of the few to live in the isolated region.
Another was Daniel Schoenfeld, owner of Wild Hog Vineyard, now 62.
Schoenfeld says he was âpart of that back-to-the-land hippie movement of the 1970s. You think itâs rural now? You should have seen it then.â
The area isnât far from the mountain settlement of Cazadero, the rainiest spot in California and just a few miles from the Russian ÂRiver town of Guerneville. But the twisting, steep roadsâold logging trails, often blocked by trees felled during massive winter stormsâmake getting around challenging, to say the least.
The scattered dwellings may be tough places for people to live, an hour or more from modern conveniences like supermarkets. But grapevines thrive on the high ridges of these coastal hills.
Itâs the resulting wines, mainly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and, to some degree, Syrah, that have made far northwestern Sonoma County so important, so fast.
Overall, the wines are distinguished by structural components that marry taut acids to sometimes angular tannins, rather than by specific aromas or flavors. The wines that possess a sinewy side can be difficult to appreciate when young, but often soften and deepen within several years.
Earth, Wind and Water
The federal government recognized the Fort Ross-Seaview American Viticultural Area (AVA) in January 2012, after a contentious scrum over political boundaries.
At 27,500 acres, itâs medium-sized by California standards, but only 555 acres are planted to grapes, according to the areaâs unofficial historian, Linda Schwartz.
Schwartz and her husband, Lester, both 68, own Fort Ross Vineyard. Sheâs biased, of course, but she deems Fort Ross-Seaview âa very sweet spot to grow grapes.â
Most vineyards are located at more than 1,200 feet above sea level (the AVA boundary is at 920 feet) on the first two coastal ridges, or on the south- and west-facing slope of the third.
That largely puts the vines above the clutches of the incessant fog bank that blankets the beaches and the coast road in dank and chill during the growing season.
âI can see the fog below me on most days, although I can certainly feel the moisture,â says Donnie Schatzberg, 66, who bought his land in 1973. Now called Precious Mountain Vineyard, it sits at around 1,500 feet. Up on the ridges, daytime highs can get quite warm during summer. However, the heat is tempered by the prevailing winds that sweep in off the Pacific, which doesnât exceed a chilly 60ËF, even in summer.
The result, says Jayson Pahlmeyer, the Napa vintner who bought his Wayfarer Farm Vineyard in 2000, is âjust what you want to grow great Burgundian fruit: A warm spot in an otherwise cool area.â
This climate gives the wines structure. While Fort Ross wines may lack the immediately appealing fat of their Russian River Valley counterparts, they will generally age better.
âThe tannins out there are young, angular and awkward in youth,â says Williams Selyemâs winemaker, Bob Cabral, who buys fruit from the Hirsch and Precious Mountain vineyards. âThey take awhile to become rich.â
If elevation and maritime influence are two keys to the regionâs success, a third, soil type, is more difficult to analyze. Because of the ever-shifting San Andreas Fault, soil composition differs greatly throughout the appellation.
Despite the propensity for monster rainstorms, the vineyards are well drained. Ehren Jordan, of Failla Wines, calls his dirt ârainforest desert.â
A Punctuated History

The Russiansâ grapevines (as well as wheat and other crops) failed in the cold, damp weather. Frequent mudslides and rockslides often tore out the crops. The frustrated Russians eventually gave up their colonial aspirations and retreated to Alaska.
That was end of viticulture in Fort Ross for nearly 150 years. The first person to plant grapes in modern times, Mick Bohan, was a sheep rancher whose family originally had settled the high meadows in the 1870s, after loggers had stripped the land of old-growth redwoods.
In 1973, with the collapse of the sheep market, Bohan was desperate to make a living. He planted Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling on the advice of an oenologist friend.
But Bohan never developed a brand or realized a vision for the region. That was left to a younger generation, the back-to-the-landers like Hirsch, Schoenfeld and Schatzberg.
Getting Crowded
The turning point in Fort Rossâs fortunes may have occurred in 1994.
âThat was the year Kistler, Williams Selyem and Littorai all showed up [to buy our fruit],â Hirsch says.
At about the same time, Schatzberg, at Precious Mountain, offered some grapes to Williams Selyemâs winemaker, Burt Williams.
âHe was out here the next day,â Schatzberg says. The two struck a deal thatâs been honored to this day by Williamsâ successor, Cabral.
With influential wineries identifying the vineyard names on the labels, critics took notice, as did wealthy winery owners from Napa and Sonoma who sought entry to the new golden region.
No longer was Fort Ross the Eden of off-the-gridders. The skies began to drone with helicopters carrying investors looking for cleared ridge tops to establish vineyards.
Jayson Pahlmeyer, Sir Peter Michael and Dave Del Dotto arrived, bringing new standards of viticulture to the region.
Jordan says he couldnât help but notice the flotilla of bulldozers and backhoes that inched up to Sir Peterâs property.
âBut, to me, thereâs an older, funky way of doing things,â Jordan says, âand I wonder if itâs not better.â
Fort Rossâs new popularity is not for everyone. I was driving through the area one winter day and was stopped when a fallen tree blocked the road. A chainsaw-wielding guy with a long beard and hair below his shoulders was cutting the tree into pieces.
He was on contract with the county, he said, to keep the roads clear. Heâd been living in the area since the 1960s, but was moving to Alaska. When asked why, he grunted, âGettinâ too crowded.â
Still Underappreciated
Compared to larger areas that specialize in Pinot Noir, like the Russian River Valley and the Santa Maria Valley, Fort Ross-Seaview will never be more than a bit player in terms of quantity. But quality-wise, it has achieved a premier position.
Despite this success, consumers interested in exploring these wines will have to learn the players and vineyards by heart. Itâs still not clear whether many wineries will use the new appellation on their labels starting with the 2012 vintage. Some may opt to stick with the more recognized Sonoma Coast AVA.
As Cabral says, âUnfortunately, once you travel out of Northern California, there are still people who think Sonoma is part of Napa.â
Failla Wines
Ehren Jordan was a âjack of all tradesâ at Napa Valleyâs Turley Wine Cellars in 1995 (heâs now director of winemaking). Proprietor Larry Turleyâs sister, Helen, had a winery, Marcassin, in the Fort Ross area.
âIâd tasted a lot of Burgundy,â Jordan says, âand after tasting Marcassinâs â94 [Pinot Noir], I thought, âI should call a realtor. When people realize whatâs going on at the coast, landâs going to get really expensive.â â
Jordan got a deal on 43 acres from âa couple of pot farmers.â He put in his vineyard, fencing the land, developing a spring and building a small, solar-powered cabin. The vineyard, which grows Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah, consists of 11 acres.
âI can always tell my wines in a blind tasting,â Jordan says. âThey have an acid-tannin tension thatâs fascinating.â
The reds, in particular, seem to echo the regionâs haunting loneliness. They possess a wild, woodland quality.
Del Dotto Vineyards
Former TV infomercial personality Dave Del Dotto had produced Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon since 1993. But in 2006, a bottle of W.H. Smithâs Maritime Vineyard Pinot Noir enjoyed at Bouchon, the Yountville restaurant, changed his perspective.
âI thought it rivaled RomanĂ©e-Conti,â Del Dotto, 62, says. He eventually met Smith, âwho told me he wanted to sell the property. I bought it instantly.â He renamed it Cinghiale, which means âwild boarâ in Italian.
The vineyard sits 1,800 feet above sea level and consists of 42 acres. Yields are tiny, which Del Dotto attributes to the scarcity of water and the gravelly dirt.
âItâs like a quarry up there,â he says. âI donât even know how the vines live.â
Flowers Vineyard & Winery
Walt and Joan Flowers purchased their Camp Meeting Ridge property in 1989.
âHirsch was there, and the old Bohan place, but not much else,â says Jason Jardine, president and director of winemaking under Flowersâ new ownership, the ÂHuneeus family (of Napa Valleyâs Quintessa).
âThe Flowers took a tremendous risk,â Jardine says. âPeople told them, âDonât do it, itâs too wet, too cold.âââ But the couple had owned a successful nursery.
âThey understood weather and soils,â Jardine says, âso they bought 327 acres and planted their first grapes in 1991.â
A second purchase, in 1998, at a higher ridge Jardine calls Sea View, brought the area under vine to 42 acres, which makes Flowers one of the areaâs biggest growers. Elevations range from 1,150â1,900 feet above sea level, while annual production averages about 3,000 cases of estate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Fort Ross Vineyard
Linda and Lester Schwartz emigrated to the U.S. from South Africa in 1976.
âPolitics made us do it,â Linda says. âWe felt that by living in that [apartheid] society, one was condoning it. Lester always longed for land.â
One day, while exploring the coast near Fort Ross, they drove up to the ridge top and looked down.
âLester nearly swooned,â Linda says. âHe could not believe the beauty of it all.â
They bought 970 acres, 50 of which are now planted to grapes, including Pinotage, which was originally developed in South Africa.
At elevations of 1,200â1,700 feet, Linda says the vineyard âis in the sun, surrounded by fog lower down, nipping at the edges.â
Hirsch Vineyards
David Hirschâs 1978 arrival in Fort Ross was âby accident,â he says. In the decade that followed, he had âa hobby vineyard,â but it wasnât until 1990 that he took to grape growing full time. Planted acreage now totals 68 acres, mainly Pinot Noir.
In 2002, Hirsch launched his own eponymous label, but about half the grapes still are sold to other wineries, including Williams Selyem, Siduri, Failla and Littorai.
Like many of his neighbors, including the Martinellis and the Nobles Vineyard (which sells Pinot Noir to Schramsberg and Morlet Family), Hirsch sold grapes to Kendall-Jackson in the early 1990s. K-Jâs role in aiding the regionâs pioneers has never been fully appreciated.
Martinelli Winery
Few names are as tied to the Fort Ross area as the Martinellis and their relatives, the Charleses, whose roots in the hills go back to the 1850s.
Lee Martinelli Jr., says his grandfather, George Charles, planted Chardonnay in 1981. âIt had tonnage, people were seeking it out and he needed a variety that got ripe early.â
Lee and his father first planted Pinot Noir in 1995. They began producing wine under the family name around the same time.
The Martinellis have watched the land rush to their area in wonderment.
âI feel fortunate that my ancestors have a lot of history there,â Lee says. âPeople are stumbling to buy their way in nowâa contrast to my grandfather. When he was first putting in grapes, he actually used a horse. To see now these people clamoring in with their Lexus SUVs, well, itâs just amazing.â
Pahlmeyer
Lawyer-turned-vintner Jayson Pahlmeyer had already achieved acclaim for his Napa Valley wines when he turned to Fort Ross, Here, he believed he could craft, âFrench Burgundy, the Holy Grail. Thatâs what Iâm chasing!â
He named the land he bought in 2000 Wayfarer Farm Vineyard. âIt had been owned by hippies whose first crop was something youâd smoke,â he says. âThey called it âWayfarerâ because theyâd turned it into a school for wayward kids.
âThe real problem up here is, thereâs no water,â Pahlmeyer says. He eventually got permission to build a reservoir, which provides just enough water to support 30 acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Precious Mountain Vineyard
Donnie Schatzberg is a grower whoâs chosen not to produce wine, instead selling his grapes exclusively to Williams Selyem. Even after 40 years, Schatzberg says, âI feel we never left those early days of building my house and homesteading.â
Among Pinotphiles, the six-acre Precious Mountain Vineyard is highly esteemed, frequently producing one of Williams Selyemâs best wines. The vineyard is on the second ridge in from the ocean, one locals call Creighton.
Schatzberg calls it a âmarginal area, in terms of bringing grapes to ripeness, but weâve never come up short on sugar,â even in such cool years as 2011. The vineyard is dry-farmed out of necessity.
âThe reality is, I donât have the water,â he says
Wild Hog Vineyard
Daniel Schoenfeld âdid a bunch of different thingsâ before stumbling across his Fort Ross land in 1973. To survive, he had a heavy equipment business. On the side, he was learning about wine.
âI got some Cabernet about that time, I think from Sterling, and decided to make some wine,â Schoenfeld says. âWe bought a book and followed our instincts, but we were amazingly ignorant.â
In 1981, he planted Zinfandel and GewĂŒrztraminer. Later, he budded the GewĂŒrz over to Pinot Noir, but retained the Zinfandel because, âweâre on the southwest-facing slope of the third ridge in, and itâs a lot warmer than the first two ridges.â
Schoenfeld admits to mixed feelings about growth. âIâm not wild about change,â he says. âA lot of the new people who came in with millions of dollars tended to not become part of the community. But all of us are really proud of our new appellation.â
Mohrhardt Ridge Vineyard
Phil Mohrhardt sells his grapes exclusively to Wellington Vineyards. But heâs integral to the history of Fort Ross, and many refer to the ridge where his vineyard is located as âMohrhardt Ridge.â
He planted his first grapes in 1984, âbefore anyone else,â starting with five acres of Cabernet Sauvignon. Why the great grape of Bordeaux in a region now definitively Burgundian? âThatâs what the advisor from the junior college recommended,â Mohrhardt says.
Wellington has purchased the grapes since 1989, and it crafts an affordable Cabernet thatâs grippy and tannic when young, but ages well.
The ranch, which covers 2,200 acres, extends up to 2,300 feet above sea level, âand is steep, rugged and forested,â Mohrhardt says. Would he ever plant Pinot Noir?
âWeâve thought about it,â he says, âbut even with all that acreage, thereâs not a lot of land thatâs suitable.â
Top-Scoring Wines
98 Williams Selyem 2010 Precious Mountain Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast). Cellar Selection.Â
abv: 14.3% Â Â Â Â Â Â Price: $75
98 Flowers 2010 Sea View Ridge Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast).
abv: 14% Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Price: $70
97 Failla 2010 Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast). Editorsâ Choice.
abv: 13.9% Â Â Â Â Â Â Price: $65
95 Fort Ross 2010 Fort Ross Vineyard Sea Slopes Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast). Editorsâ Choice.
abv: 14.5% Â Â Â Â Â Â Price: $32
94 Hirsch 2010 East Ridge Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast). Cellar Selection.
abv: 13% Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Price: $85
93 Del Dotto 2010 Cinghiale Vineyard Reserve Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast).
abv: NA Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Price: $125
93 Martinelli 2009 Three Sisters Vineyard Sea Ridge Meadow Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast).
abv: 14.1% Â Â Â Â Price: $60
90 Wild Hog 2009 Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast). Cellar Selection.
abv: 14.5% Â Â Â Â Â Price: $30