Golden Vineyards

Golden Vineyards is the gorgeous byproduct of two individuals who, when spliced together, make for one very passionate winegrower.

Let’s start with Joe. That’s him over there with the wine glass. Joe loves wine. No, seriously—the man’s a little obsessed. He started a wine club at Stanford before he was old enough to drink the stuff. Once he was old enough, he’d make weekend treks up from the Silicon Valley to the wine country whenever he had the time between his high tech start-ups and world travel. There he would explore the surrounding wine country, hang around the wineries, learning the ropes from the winemakers, and occasionally lending a hand during the crush just so he could be a part of the process.

Julie, on the other hand, was born in Mendocino County, raised in an old farm house overlooking her family’s vineyard. The view from her kitchen window was row upon row of vines leading to the hills beyond. She was a colicky baby and the only thing that calmed her was riding on the tractor with her father. Still works. Growing up in this beautiful county, the vineyard became more than just a farm, it was living calm. Even as her career took her around the world she always felt the tug of the vineyard—what it means to be ‘home’.

Joe and Julie met in Germany when they were both working to bring broadband access to the home. Again, ahead of their time. Joe likes to say he had to move to Europe to find a California girl, "they were all taken over here". Or maybe he was just spending too much time stomping grapes. Whatever the reason, they found each other and now share their passion for growing the best wine grapes in the world in a sustainable, earth-friendly fashion.

Success has opened many doors for both Joe and Julie. So when it came time to settle down they had the luxury of setting up the ideal homestead. Their Home Ranch. A healthy, beautiful place to grow their family. To Julie, that meant having vineyards of her own. To Joe, vineyards meant making his own wine and getting the chance to play with big yellow machinery.

The Goldens discovered Heart Arrow Ranch—over a thousand acres of pure Mendocino County located on the edge of Redwood Valley. A little spot of wilderness worth preserving. A ridge and terroir perfectly suited to world class ‘mountain reds’. Now Julie has that view of her own vineyard when she looks out the kitchen window. With the help of organic pioneers Jerry Yates and Bobby Fetzer, she and Joe are looking out on a premium Biodynamic® vineyard of Cabernet and Petite Sirah part of only 41 farmed acres of the Heart Arrow Ranch (the Zinfandel and olives are up the hillside a bit, behind the Douglas Fir). And, looking due south, they can see Duncan Peak towering over their Fairbairn Ranch in Hopland—another 22 immaculate acres of Biodynamic® Syrah.

They have found their place, and these are more than vineyards.

Now if we can just get Joe to stop horsing around on the backhoe…