Madroña Vineyards Blog

So imagine you told your kids that they were starting the school year 2 weeks earlier than previously scheduled. Or imagine if the IRS let you know in late March that tax day was being moved up to April 1st instead of April 15th. Can you imagine the reactions you might be getting?

Well, now you can imagine (without much difficulty) what us farmers are saying right now. For us, we will start the harvest of 2026 this coming Friday with a Marsanne pick (for another winery). Now, for a variety (Marsanne) that we used to pick often in late October or early November (in the 1990's), this is a bit...

Sometimes it seems people believe that winemakers and winery owners sit around all day just thinking about whether that Chardonnay could use a kiss of oak or that the Malbec will go best with my duck dinner with a cherry/blue cheese reduction sauce. To be honest (which I seldom am), winery owner minds are often going a mile-a-minute, thinking about the past, the present and the future.

So when two articles came up recently talking somewhat about the state of the wine industry as well as choices in the vineyards, it seemed to line up with discussions we owners have been having. (Actually, Josh...

It Really is the Best Variety of Grape

So, I may have already mentioned that the harvest for sparkling wines in Santa Barbara started this year on June 30th. That's the earliest they have ever seen it. Similarly, harvest for sparkling wines on the north coast has already started as well.

Now, segue with me here. On Tuesday, I found myself in Windsor, just north of Santat Rosa. (With the cost of shipping constantly going up due to diesel pricing, it made more sense for me to drive down to pick up barrels and corks in Sonoma. (Crazy, but that's business!)) In traveling through Napa, I of course look at the vines as I'm driving by. I...

Let's, for a second, not say that this is shameless marketing, but is instead a bit of history as we prepare our country's 250th Anniversary on July 4th! For many, you may believe that Madroña Vineyards existed when our country started in 1776. True, our estate vineyards are older and registered with the Historic Vineyard Society (warning--shameless marketing), but our winery is not quite as old as our nation.

But what we really wanted to talk about was which wines you should be choosing to enjoy at our country's celebration. As a nation, we are lucky to have had several enophiles (those...