— the farm —

When a colleague and I bought The Farm in 1980, neither of us knew much about wine. We were ‘fun’ wine drinkers, not ‘fine’ wine drinkers and we’d never heard of the Rutherford Bench, even though our new property was at the very heart of it. We bought Manley on a whim in just one day as a place to relax with family and friends and as a real estate investment when prices in San Francisco were out of reach.  The home was pretty basic but charming, a 1920s California bungalow that was quite lived-in but more than adequate for weekend escapes from the City. The historic barn dating from 1912 was an original homestead where the Edington family, animals and equipment resided together in one small rustic space. There were redwood trees, a picturesque reservoir and endless driveways.

The property had two acres of Petite Sirah—a variety created by a French botanist François Durif—which was historically rather popular in Napa Valley. As basic as it was, The Farm had a magical quality from the beginning and over time we made it our own, adding a pool, tennis court, gardens and Cabernet Sauvignon vines where the Petite Sirah once grew.  The Farm became our place for special gatherings and family celebrations of all kinds.

Prior to 2003, we looked at our vineyard as “break-even landscaping” without understanding its special terroir until Aaron Pott—then the general manager and winemaker for St. Clement Winery—began buying and making wine using our fruit. 

After two vintages, Aaron observed that our fruit was far too special to be blended and suggested we make our own wine instead of selling it to others. His advice led to replanting our 2-acre vineyard in 2005 with an eye towards making the finest wine possible. In 2011 after a fire destroyed the bungalow home, we planted an additional acre, also to Cabernet Sauvignon.

My only instruction to Aaron, who has remained our winemaker since our first vintage in 2007, was to make the best wine he could. His goal has always been to create an elegant, impeccably balanced wine structured to age as well as any fine Bordeaux. Despite not being the most objective assessor of our wine, I believe the flavor resulting from our terroir (pure luck)—combined with Aaron's emphasis on balance and silky tannins (pure intent), is what makes it distinct.