Our Wine Partners
Kick Ranch has become a “reference point” vineyard for Rhone varietal grapes in Sonoma County, and in addition, some killer Sauvignon Blanc wines. The vineyard is on a beautiful hillside planted on historic land - a vineyard flourished there by 1880.
In 2011 twelve of our winery clients will release a Kick Ranch vineyard designate. We are honored that so many wineries have chosen to make wines from Kick Ranch grapes. They also make some remarkable wines with grapes sourced from other vineyards. I encourage you to learn about each of these wineries and to buy and enjoy their wines! This page links you to all the wineries buying Kick Ranch grapes in 2011.
You also can learn about wines made from Kick Ranch grapes by joining Cellar Tracker or reading reviews posted on this website about Kick Ranch wines.
Acacia
Set just two miles from San Francisco's San Pablo Bay, Acacia Vineyard is in the heart of Napa Valley's Carneros wine region, with stellar views of vineyards and the bay. This premium winegrowing region enjoys the cooling influence of the Pacific Ocean and summer fog, making it an ideal growing area for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Over the last 20 years, Acacia’s senior winemaker, Matthew Glynn has developed an intuitive approach to winemaking shaped by vintages in Burgundy, France; Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand; and several winegrowing regions in California. The delicate, expressive nature of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines lured him through the Grand Cru vineyards of Burgundy and eventually to Acacia Vineyard®, where he continues to seek new vineyard sites in order to create pure, stylish wines with unique character.
As senior winemaker, Matthew cultivates and guides the enthusiasm of the Acacia team. “There is a strong collective desire here to create special wines,” he says. Matthew thrives in precisely this kind of environment, where everyone is ardently invested in the outcome.
Matthew continues to make more single-vineyard wines every year, as well as to explore new varietals and vinous styles for the Carneros wines that have been making lifelong fans of Acacia drinkers since 1979.
Matthew has been making a Kick Ranch syrah since the 2008 vintage.
Bedrock Wine Co.
Bedrock is an itsy-bitsy winery making wine in a converted chicken coop. Fruit from only the most excellent vineyard sites is hand pitch-forked into the destemmer, fermented in open top redwood and stainless vats using only native yeasts, and are manually basket pressed by winemaker Morgan Twain-Peterson into the sexiest oak from the coldest French forests.
Some of the Bedrock’s objectives are:
- To channel the fruit of ancient vines into powerful, elegant, and distinctly Californian wines.
- To spread the gospel of Syrah in California by sourcing fruit from great terroirs throughout the North Coast.
- To make fascinating and quixotic white wines from unique sites and interesting varietals.
- To dream big but keep production low!
Morgan Twain-Peterson was born at home in Sonoma, CA. On January 6th, 1981 to Joel Peterson and Kate Twain. Raised at his father’s Ravenswood Winery, Morgan was exposed to wine and wine tasting at an early age. When not working for Bedrock Wine Company, Morgan is a manager of his family’s Bedrock Vineyards in Sonoma Valley, and is a member of Sunbreak Vineyard Services L.L.C, a vineyard management company. Morgan has passed the prestigious Master of Wine exam and upon successful completion of the dissertation will become one of the less than thirty American M.W.'s.
Kick Ranch has provided syrah, sauvignon blanc and viognier grapes to Bedrock since the 2008 vintage
Behrens
Behrens Family Winery is a boutique winery in the truest sense. Owned by Les Behrens and Lisa Drinkward, who’ve made wine under the Behrens & Hitchcock label since 1993, Behrens Family Winery produces small lots of eight or nine wines a year at its winery perched high on top of Spring Mountain in Napa Valley. Each wine is a low tech labor of love: crushed into one-ton T-bins, punched down by hand, gently transferred to barrel, and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Les and Lisa tend to gravitate toward small, interesting and low-yielding vineyard sites, primarily in Napa Valley and Sonoma County, working with growers who they know, like and trust, and who are as obsessive about quality as they are. For Behrens Family Winery, it’s all about letting the vineyards steal the show, and allowing the wines to speak for themselves.
I am delighted that Lisa and Les have bought Kick Ranch grapes for their winery since 2007. In 2011, they are buying cinsault, grenache, petite sirah, and syrah grapes from Kick Ranch.
Bevans Cellars
Our approach to winemaking has remained constant since our first vintage. We inspect every grape after it has been removed from the stem. We discard every one that doesn’t meet our standards; typically sacrificing six to eight percent of our fruit during this process. From that stage on, every wine is crafted to maximize balance and textures. Each of our vineyards imparts their fruit with such pure flavors that we strive to bring all of the components into harmony. — Russell Bevan and Victoria De Crescenzo
Russell Bevans has made small lot, critically acclaimed Sauvignon Blanc wines from Kick Ranch grapes since 2009.
Capture
Captûre Wines represents the marriage of time-honored Bordeaux winemaking with the intense fruit character of our organically farmed mountain estate, Tin Cross Vineyards. Renowned winemaking team May-Britt and Denis Malbec, formerly of Château Latour in Bordeaux, create our wines to bring out the rich personality of our terroir. The resulting wines are elegant expressions of depth, nuance and longevity.
We look forward to sharing them with you.
Since 2008, Capture has produced exceptional Sauvignon Blanc wines sourced from Kick Ranch and other premium vineyards.
Enkidu
The origin or meaning of our name “Enkidu” comes from one of the oldest stories ever recorded: The Epic of Gilgamesh. Written in Sumerian cuneiform nearly 4500 years ago, the story details the life of King Gilgamesh and his best friend Enkidu. Enkidu was a steward of the land and protector of animals, and was created by the gods as a foil to Gilgamesh. Two-thirds deity and one-third human, he embodied strength, passion, and incredible bravery, yet at times showed fear and trepidation of the unknown. Early in his existence, Enkidu was rustic and rough around the edges, and over time he became more cultured and refined. While Enkidu’s character contained some imperfections, he did evolve while staying true to his nature. This can also be said of wine.
As a winery we take direction from the character of Enkidu. We work closely with growers who farm conscientiously and take pride in treating the land and vines with respect. We strive to make handcrafted wines of outstanding character that are the result of passion, art, and intelligence, mixed with hard work and a degree of luck.
Enkidu has made outstanding Syrah and Sauvignon wines since 2006. In 2011, Enkidu will focus on Kick Ranch Syrah grapes.
Eric Kent Wines
As a husband and wife (winemaker and artist) team, we combine our passions to celebrate craft inside and outside the bottle. Our goal is to capture a bit of the best California has to offer in every glass, creating wines that are proud of their bold fruit and yet still able to seduce you with their nuance and finesse. We hope this same attention to quality is reflected in the stunning art featured on our labels.
Eric Kent is a new Kick Ranch winery client in 2011 for grenache grapes.
Idle Cellars
Idle Cellars is a micro-winery based in Sonoma County who specialize in small lot, vineyard designate wines. We believe in the artistic craft of wine making, and work hands-on from grape selection all the way through to bottling.
Enjoy your Idle moment.
Idle has made delicious wines from Kick Ranch since 2009. This year they are buying grenache and petite sirah grapes from Kick Ranch.
Kale
In 2008, Kale and Ranko Anderson set out to create Northern and Southern Rhone inspired wines from the best vineyards in Sonoma and Mendocino counties under their own label, Kale Wines. Specializing in small production, handcrafted wines, Kale utilizes new technologies as well as ancient techniques to express the unique vineyards’ most delicious characteristics.
Kale Anderson grew up in Rincon Valley and played baseball at the Rincon Valley Little League Park - which is within ear shot of Kick Ranch. During the summer, we can hear families cheer for their favorite batters. We have sold Kale grenache and syrah grapes since 2009. This year, Kale will release his first “Home Run” cuvee.
Lightning
Our goal is to use artisanal techniques to produce small batches of hand crafted wines that satisfy friends and family, whether at the dinner table or on the front porch. We are thrilled to be a part of the Kick Ranch family of producers.
Lightning is a new artisan winery that is buying grenache grapes this year for its inaugural release.
Loxton Cellars
Chris Loxton is the fourth generation of a grape growing family that has its roots outside of the Barossa Valley in South Australia.
Now based in Sonoma Valley, Loxton Cellars primarily produces Syrah and makes 3000 cases of wine annually.
Chris Loxton has a reputation for making outstanding syrahs. Making great wines from syrah is in Chris’s DNA, as his father and grandfather in Australia have grown syrah for almost 100 years. I am honored that Chris has been making a vineyard designate Kick Ranch syrah since 2007.
Paul Hobbs Winery
Our focus is small production, vineyard designate wines from properties we feel are the most distinctive within their appellation. We have built our portfolio from the ground up on a foundation of strong, collaborative relationships with the growers of some of Napa’s and Sonoma’s most compelling and historical properties.
Meticulous vineyard management followed by minimally-invasive winemaking techniques is our approach for producing wines that express their vineyard origins with utmost finesse, complexity, and authenticity; in other words, wines with a sense of place.
Whether in California or Argentina, where he is the owner/winemaker at Paul Hobbs Winery and Vina Cobos respectively; or in Chile, Hungary and other countries where he is a leading consultant, Paul knows that the essence of profound wines can be traced back to meticulous care and expertise in the vineyard.
“I strive to create richly textured wines of great intensity, complexity, structure and balance that reflect the specific personality of each vineyard site.” — Paul Hobbs
Paul has made a Kick Ranch vineyard designate Syrah since the 2005 vintage.
Rosenblum
Rosenblum Cellars is recognized as one of North America’s most acclaimed producers of Zinfandel and Rhone varietal wines. Rosenblum is guided by commitment, craft and a blend of traditional and innovative winemaking techniques to showcase sumptuous wines from the best vineyards and regions in California.
Our urban winery has evolved from a passionate home-winemaking operation founded in 1978 into a world-class winery, with numerous gold medals and 90-plus scores. Even with very highly regarded wines, Rosenblum maintains a down-to-earth approachable attitude. According to Wine Spectator, Rosenblum is a “Mecca for Zin-Fanatics.”
John Kane, on the right, has taken over senior winemaker duties from his mentor, Kent Rosenblum, pictured on the left.
Rosenblum Cellars has made syrah and petite sirah wines from Kick Ranch ever since the vineyard’s first harvest in 2003.
Sanglier
Sanglier Cellars is a family winery in Sonoma Country honoring old world traditions and celebrating new world creativity. We hand craft small lots of Pinot Noir and Rhône Varietals from vineyards we sustainably farm. Simply put: If we don’t farm it, we don’t make it.
Sanglier Wines are made by the family of Kick Ranch’s vineyard manager, Glenn Alexander. The character of their wines matches the passion Glenn brings to his farming at Kick Ranch. This year Glenn will harvest cinsault, grenache, mourvedre and syrah from Kick Ranch for Sanglier.
Scherrer Winery
Since our small winery’s first vintage in 1991, our goal has been to create handcrafted, full-flavored wines that express the personality of the unique Sonoma County vineyards where they are grown. Fred first became known for Zinfandel from his father’s Alexander Valley vineyard, and now his careful hand with Pinot Noir from the Russian River and Sonoma County has quietly gained attention and a steady following. That same attention has made Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah that exemplify the bounty of Sonoma County vineyards.
Since 1991, Fred Scherrer has been making handcrafted, full-flavored wines. I am honored that Fred has chosen to buy Kick Ranch grenache grapes this year.
Tavosa
Tavosa Wines is located in Sonoma, California. The Benz and O'Connor families have partnered with winemaker Justin Estes to create small batch wines inspired by Old World wine regions. Our journey officially began in the Summer of 2011 with our first release - Sonoma Valley Grenache Rosé.
Tavosa typifies the wineries that I seek out and who seek Kick Ranch out. Winemakers driven to find vineyards that they will commit to growing ultra premium grapes for wines that will help them build a reputation for exceptional wines. I am honored that Tavosa has chosen to buy syrah grapes from Kick Ranch in its inaugural year.
