Hop Barn Hill

Hop Barn Hill was purchased by Uncle Tony Bondi in the late 1950s. It was one of the last remaining hop ranches. Uncle Tony purchased it with the intention of paving it over to put a trailer park on it. These were very fashionable and profitable ventures in the 1950s. He had the plans drawn, yet unfortunately he died in a freak tractor accident before he could implement his vision. Thankfully for us, Lee Sr. inherited the property and kept farming the apple orchards and vineyards currently on it. Later Lee Sr. created his own vision for the property and renovated the old Hop Kiln as our winery and the old Hop Barn as our tasting room in the 1980s, which we still use today.

2021 was the driest year on record since they started keeping records 127 years ago. It was also the third year of drought conditions for Sonoma County. Contrary to these conditions, the summer was relatively cool and started two weeks later than the previous year. The drought conditions did bring ripeness to each of our varieties at just about the same time. By the end of the first week, we had 40% of the total tonnage in the winery. This included Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel from both Fort Ross-Seaview and Russian River Valley. Despite being a very compact harvest, small clusters and berry size have yielded exceptional quality which makes 2021 a standout vintage.

Complex aromas of blueberries, sweet tobacco, and Amarena cherries are found in the nose.

Layered tannins enhance the full palate with flavors of ripe cherry and barrel spice. A touch of fresh ground coffee is present in the lengthy finish.