The Roots of Peterson Winery Peterson Winery is located on Dry Creek Road just north of Healdsburg, in the famous Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County, California. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the geography of Northern California, Healdsburg and the Dry Creek Valley are about 75 miles north of San Francisco, 15 miles from the coast.
Peterson Winery grew out of the vineyards that now supply us with grapes. That may seem unusual, but my background is not just in winemaking, but also in grape growing, otherwise known as viticulture. That is why I refer to myself as a winegrower. For me making great wine is about the grapes -- where and how they were grown, what the weather conditions were, and how the vineyards were managed during the growing season. Before I digress too much on my winegrowing philosophy, let me give you a quick overview of how Peterson Winery came to be.
In 1987, all the pieces fell into place and Peterson Winery was born. Starting then, and for nearly twenty years, the location I made wine was an old, red barn tucked away through the vineyards off of Lytton Springs Road. It was beautiful place to be making wine, but the structure itself was nothing more than a converted barn from the twenties, and in the last few years was beginning to show its age. At the end of 2005, an opportunity came about to move into a new facility on Dry Creek Road, at Timber Crest Farms. At the beginning of 2006, we were all moved into our larger and more convenient spot, with space for our offices, more production, case storage, and even a tasting room. Over the years, we have met grape growers with the same goals and values we hold; to grow grapes that represent a sense of place. The Dry Creek Valley showcases one of the greatest ranges of microclimates for such a small area in the world, making it possible to grow, with world-class quality, the many varieties we produce. We now make an average of 4000 cases annually, all in many small lots from the like-minded growers we now call our friends. Here are the wines we produce:
For additional information on these wines, click here.
|
|||
|
I came to Dry Creek Valley in 1983, working to find and develop world-class vineyard properties. It was exciting to be able to select ideal vineyard locations and then plant the appropriate grape variety and clone for that growing region. Once the vineyards came into production, we had amazing fruit being produced in our Dry Creek Valley (Sonoma County) vineyards, including Bradford Mountain, and in our Mendocino County Floodgate Vineyard. The next step was a natural one; I wanted to make wine from the fruits of my labor (Sorry about the pun, it was too good to pass up.).