Sonoma County Barrel Auction


Welcome to the 2024 Sonoma County Barrel Auction lots! The live auction events are planned for May 2-3, 2024 in Healdsburg, CA.

Lot #1 Pride Mountain Vineyards

“First & Five” offers a first look at vineyard-to-bottle winemaking at Pride Mountain Vineyards as seen through Winemaker Matt Ward’s eyes. Matt joined the winery in July of 2022, making this one of his first priorities. It is also special…

Lot #2 Banshee Wines

A unique opportunity brought Banshee Wines to source from the R&P Marcucci Vineyard (Block 7- Pommard Clone) and the Sonoma-Davis Vineyard (Block B2- Clone 2A) for the 2023 vintage. They have never blended these blocks from the two vineyards…
Benziger Family Winery logo

Lot #3 Benziger Family Winery

“Mother Earth” is a distinctive first bottling from a single block of organically-farmed Old Wente Clone Chardonnay, sourced from the renowned Sangiacomo Vineyard. At Benziger, the Chardonnay grape isn't just a grape, it's a tiny, round…
Adobe Road Winery logo

Lot #4 Adobe Road Winery

Adobe Road lives by the mantra that rules were made to be broken. Flying in the face of traditional winemaking norms is an area where they excel. This lot is a perfect example. A nod to France's Rhône River valley with its feet firmly rooted…
Balletto Vineyards logo

Lot #6 Balletto Vineyards

This “Classic Sebastopol Hills” custom blend encompasses the best of the Balletto family’s Sebastopol Hills vineyard sites. It features grapes from the warm sun on Cider Ridge, the cool north-west facing Sexton Hill, and finally the vineyard…
Alexander Valley Vineyards logo

Lot #7 Alexander Valley Vineyards

Alexander Valley Vineyards (AVV) and the Wetzel family have a long history with Zinfandel. The culmination of their decades with the varietal was recognized in December 2023 with Wine Spectator's Top 100 list announcement. Alexander Valley Vineyards…
ACTA logo

Lot #8 ACTA Wine

ACTA Wine's core winemaking philosophy uses blending as a central tool, often only needing just touches of a secondary vineyard, varietal or cooperage to create a more compelling wine. However, from time to time the winemaking team comes across…
BACA Wines logo

Lot #9 BACA Wines

BACA’s “Tug O’ War Adventure” is sourced from Block 6 of the Maffei Vineyard along the Santa Rosa plains in the heart of the Russian River Valley Appellation. Here, Zinfandel vines were planted in 1928 to limited, loamy soils where these…
Aperture logo

Lot #10 Aperture Cellars

“Block 12” is crafted from a single vineyard block at the famed Farrow Ranch, Aperture's eastern hillside Geyserville estate vineyard site. This is the first 100-point vineyard in Alexander Valley history. While the Aperture team works with…
Breathless Sparkling Wines logo

Lot #12 Breathless Sparkling Wines

Founded by three Sonoma County sisters – Rebecca, Sharon, and Cynthia – Breathless Sparkling Wines is their tribute to their mother, Martha Jane, the remarkable woman who inspired it all. In the heart of Sonoma County, the sisters transformed…
Davis Bynum

Lot #13 Davis Bynum

The name “Billy Swan” pays tribute to both the Billy Gregori vineyard in the Green Valley of the Russian River Valley and the Swan Pinot Noir clone from which it is made. The celebrated Goldridge sandy loam soils of the cooler Green Valley…
BRANDON-GREGORY_LOGO

Lot #14 Brandon Gregory Estate

This delicious Bordeaux blend was crafted by winemaker Julien Fayard and blended from the best barrels of the small lot wines produced by Brandon Gregory Estate in 2022. In 1871, Clark Foss, a daredevil stagecoach driver and entrepreneur, founded…
Brooks Note logo

Lot #15 Brooks Note Winery

“Ash and Wind” is made of grapes from the very first harvest of the newly planted Sweet Family Vineyard. Developed and farmed by Charlie Chenoweth, this protected bowl sits at 750 feet of elevation on the southern side of Sonoma Mountain.…

Lot #16 Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards & Winery

“Winner’s Circle” is the first time a 100% Pinot Noir wine has been solely sourced from these two vineyards. The juxtaposition of the steep hillside rows in the Winner’s Circle vineyard and flat vineyard rows of the Trenton Old Barn…

Lot #18 DuMOL

Winemaker, Viticulturist and Partner Andy Smith crafts wines of depth, clarity and elegance through attention to detail in the vineyards and vintage-specific winegrowing. He is dedicated to crafting highly nuanced, vineyard-focused Pinot Noirs…

Lot #20 Ernest Vineyards

Joyce Vineyard is the southernmost vineyard in the West Sonoma Coast AVA. Perched on a steep, southeastern facing slope and ringed by Redwoods and coastal pines, this isolated vineyard truly feels like standing on the “Edge of the World.”…

Lot #22 Domaine de la Rivière

The "Barrel Brothers" auction lot is made from special barrel selections of Pommard and UV-Vosne Romanèe Pinot Noir clones from Domaine de la Rivière's estate, Vineyard eleven. The "Barrel Brothers" (Duff and Zak Bedrosian) worked with winemaker…
Fisher Vineyards logo

Lot #24 Fisher Vineyards

This "High Elevation Heritage" barrel auction lot represents a special selection from the 20th consecutive vintage produced from the winery’s Mountain Estate Vineyard. First planted in 1999 to a selection of Dijon clones, this hillside site…
Emeritus logo

Lot #25 Emeritus Vineyards

“Untamed” is cool-climate Pinot Noir in one of its rarest forms: crafted from two small blocks of the Hyde clone at the Emeritus estate Hallberg Ranch Vineyard that yield only a few tons each harvest. Never before bottled on their own, these…
Domaine Della logo

Lot #27 Domaine Della

Domaine Della is celebrating the significant milestone of its 10th anniversary this year and felt that it was perfect to share this momentous occasion with the Sonoma County Barrel Auction’s own 10th anniversary. To commemorate these parallel…
Ferrari Carano logo

Lot #28 Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery

Ferrari-Carano has never created a blend of the three Cabernet Sauvignon blocks that are selected for their PreVail Wines - West Face, Lookout Tree, and Back Forty. “PreVail Trio” is the first wine to represent all three wines in one bottling.…

Lot #29 Ektimo Vineyards

Never again will an assemblage of 226,914 grapes squeeze so perfectly into one barrel and create such harmonious timbre as to weave a complex tapestry of sensations that will leave an indelible mark on the select few that will experience its…
Marimar Estate logo

Lot #30 Marimar Estate Winery

Marimar Estate has been growing and making Tempranillo for 15 years, but this is the first barrel selection from their finest lots to make a special small bottling. The lot name “TEMP'rature Rising” is a play on words with Tempranillo and…
Merriam Vineyards logo

Lot #31 Merriam Vineyards

“Downeast Old Wente” is a block-designated wine from Eastside Estate Vineyard. The grapes from this mono-clone block are hand-picked, pressed and fermented independently to distinguish its unique characteristics from the rest. Winemaker…
Gloria Ferrer logo

Lot #33 Gloria Ferrer

“Brut Nature Rosé” has been crafted specifically for the Sonoma County Barrel Auction and has no added sugar (the added "nature" in the name indicates no sugar or dosage added), allowing the purity of the fruit to shine through. The Pinot…

Lot #34 Flowers Vineyards & Winery

“Three Ridgelines” is a rare trade release of Flowers Pinot Noir sourced from Fort Ross-Seaview, comprised of organically farmed fruit from their iconic Sea View Ridge estate (planted in 1998) as well as lots from multi-generational family…

Lot #35 Francis Ford Coppola Winery

"Eminence" reflects the elevated status and distinguished legacy of the Archimedes Vineyard, where the grapes for this wine are sourced from a single block. The name signifies the position of the vineyard, situated at the highest elevation vineyard…

Lot #37 Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery

Historically, the New River Block 777 is picked and fermented with all of the Old River Block fruit; however, because of the cool, long growing season that was the 2023 vintage, this section of vines was allowed to ripen for an additional week…
Head High Wines logo

Lot #38 Head High Wines

"Nalu 'Alani" translates to "Orange Wave" in Hawaiian. This skin-contact white wine, sometimes referred to as orange wine, is given its slight golden hue as a result of fermentation on the skins, adding to its unique character. "Nalu 'Alani"…
MacRostie Merey Edwards logos lockup

Lot #39 MacRostie Winery, Merry Edwards Winery

This collaborative lot brings together two superstar Sonoma County winemakers, Heidi Bridenhagen (MacRostie Winery) and Heidi von der Mehden (Merry Edwards Winery), who both took the reins from pioneering winemakers and are now leading their…
Martinelli logo

Lot #42 Martinelli Vineyards & Winery

Lee Martinelli Sr. inherited the Bondi Home Ranch and Zio Tony Ranch from his Uncle Tony Bondi in the 1970s. He converted the apple orchards on the ranches to wine grapes in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Martinelli makes a single vineyard…
Mascarin logo

Lot #43 Mascarin Family Wines

Introducing the extraordinary "Blue Moon" Cabernet Sauvignon from Mascarin Family Wines, brought to you from the family behind 32 Winds. Late in the 2023 harvest season, the Mascarin team were given an incredible opportunity to obtain a limited…
Nottingham Cellars logo

Lot #46 Nottingham Cellars

The 2023 vintage was the winery’s first year working with a handful of Cabernet Franc growers throughout Sonoma County. One site in particular, Nuns Canyon Vineyard in Moon Mountain, truly shined. It sits on a west-facing hillside at about…
Fort Ross logo

Lot #47 Fort Ross Vineyard

“Terraces Above the Fog” is made from the Winemaker Jeff Pisoni’s favorite barrel of wine from his favorite vineyard block, planted 100% to Calera Clone Pinot Noir. This block, called the Terraces, wraps around the mountainside and produces…
River Road Family Vineyards and Winery logo

Lot #49 River Road Family Vineyards and Winery

“Stephanie’s Select” is a special lot selection hand-picked by Winemaker Ed Morris during the 2023 harvest. The wine is named for the daughter of the original family who planted the Pinot Noir in River Road Vineyard. This estate vineyard…
Rodney Strong logo

Lot #52 Rodney Strong Vineyards

“Knights Delight” highlights fruit for this very special barrel lot coming from the Knights Valley American Viticultural Area. The 2022 vintage in Sonoma County was superb for Bordeaux varietals. After early summer heatwaves that led to…
Rombauer Vineyards

Lot #53 Rombauer Vineyards

The Sangiacomo family has farmed the Carneros region for generations. The fruit for “Home Ranch” comes from Home 82, the oldest block at the Sangiacomo family's original homestead located on the Sonoma County side of the cool, windy Carneros…

Lot #56 Saintsbury Winery

The Saintsbury Garden is the heart of the Carneros winery, where visitors come to taste and Saints gather and break bread throughout the changing seasons. Planted in the mid-1980s by renowned Landscape Designer Michael Bates of Sonoma Mountain…
Donum logo

Lot #58 The Donum Estate

Selected from a block of Swan-clone Pinot Noir that used an experimental form of fungal control, in which no toxins are used to control mildew and botrytis, the vines were sprayed with beneficial fungi that outcompete the damaging mildew and…
Thompson 31Fifty Wines logo

Lot #59 Thompson 31Fifty Wines

This “3 Block Chardonnay” is a one-of-a-kind blend and hails from three single vineyard sources: Vineyard Block 1 from the Thompson 31Fifty Sister Sophie's Estate, planted to a Montrachet clone; Vineyard Block 2 from a block at the Bacigalupi…
Gary Farrell Winery Three Sticks lockup

Lot #60 Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery, Three Sticks Wines

“Clone Alone” packs a double one-two punch: Made from one Grand Cru vineyard with one exceptional clone all alone from two meticulously tended vineyard blocks by two visionary winemakers. Situated at the zenith of the Petaluma Gap, Gap's…
Walt logo

Lot #62 WALT Wines

WALT Estate Vineyard, Bob’s Ranch, lies alongside the region known as the Petaluma Wind Gap. This area is known for cooler temperatures due to the connection of fog and wind funneling along a pathway from the Pacific Ocean through the Bodega…