I’m greeted by an exuberant golden retriever with a golden lab pup at his heels as I exit my car. The dogs, Britton and Moose, are thrilled to have company though once their dad comes out to greet me they scamper off to play, nip, and tumble around the vineyards.
Jason Drew goes to grab his wife and partner Molly, while I take the opportunity to visit their flock of adorable Babydoll sheep. The setting is bucolic, despite the impending storm that has caused the temperature to drop twenty degrees in the last hour. Snow is on its way. I can feel it.
Luckily, we still have time to walk the vineyards, enjoying the surroundings: lush hills covered in Autumn tinged vines and set against majestic forested mountains of evergreens, the ocean invisible in the distance but perceptible in the fresh, breezy, slightly salinated air.
The home and winery that Jason and Molly have built on their Mendocino Ridge property, blends perfectly into the coastal woodsy setting. It feels like it’s always been there. Like this is a building that could have stood a century ago in the same place, but has somehow remained in perfect shape.
With Sonoma County less than a hundred miles to the South and the Ocean just a few miles to the West, Drew Family’s Mendocino Ridge vineyards are uniquely situated. Located within the larger Anderson Valley, but with vineyards at higher elevations and situated on a series of ridges, Mendocino Ridge is the only non-contiguous AVA (American Viticultural Area) that currently exists. The AVA is also based on elevation. Vineyards must sit at 1200 feet or higher elevation to be classified within this distinct wine-growing appellation.
The Mendocino Ridge appellation is a special place that, once you are here, standing in this place-smelling the air and breathing in that invigorating mix of ocean and forest-make it clear why the region produces such unique wines.
While the Drews have planted pinot noir vineyards on their own property they also lease and farm other neighboring Mendocino Ridge vineyards, including Perli and Valenti vineyards, where they grow and farm more pinot noir as well as syrah and albariño.
I was lucky enough to taste all of Drews’ wines, in addition to their excellent Brut ‘Sur la Mer’ cider ( a dry, natural cider made from their organically farmed estate heirloom apples) during my visit with Jason and Molly. I was impressed with all of the wines across the board, but I was particularly excited by their pinot noirs, albariño, and cider.
I don’t often drink California pinot noirs, as I am more of a cool climate pinot gal and the weather is often just too darn warm in our pinot noir regions in Sonoma County, for my taste (though there are certainly exceptions and I am not claiming that my palate is normal or better than anyone else’s, it’s just my own palate). But, the terroir in the higher elevation vineyards, which sit perched on ridges above the Anderson Valley in such proximity to the ocean, really lends itself to wielding pure, structured, pretty, and lean yet layered wines.
This is also true for Drew’s albariño which displays not just a razor-sharp acidity and freshness typical of this wine when found in Spain, but also that whiff of salinity so common in Rias Baixas albariños. I’ve rarely seen these qualities in an Albariño made in the United States (Treos in Oregon is one of the few examples). It almost took me back to tasting white wines in Galicia.
The Brut ‘Sur la Mer’ cider continues the trend of bright, fresh and crisp and bursts with organic apple goodness-it’s like biting into an apple you just plucked from the tree on a chilly day in a coastal mountain orchard, in sparkling cider form.
The cool climate, fog, and farming practices at Drew are visible in everything that is bottled here.
Jason and Molly’s winery and vineyards aren’t easy to reach and therefore, this isn’t where they hold most of their tastings with guests. They opened up a tasting room in The Madrones complex in Philo in 2010 where they taste with visitors, wine club members, and long-time customers Thursday-Monday between 11 and 5 pm. However, they do offer vineyards tastings and tours to visitors who make appointments in advance.
Get in touch with Molly or Jason at jason@drewwines.com or molly@drewwines.com to make an appointment. Or stop by their tasting room in Philo (right off the 128, inside The Madrones complex).