EMBRACE THE SPIRIT OF MONTEREY

 

OUR WINES

We grow all the fruit for our wines on our home turf — the Monterey American Viticultural Area (AVA) of California’s Central Coast. We share the remote and rugged hills with free-spirited wild boars known in Spanish as ‘Verraco’. With decades of experience growing grapes in this region, our vineyard and winemaking teams draw on deep practical knowledge along with free-wheeling creative inspiration to produce award-winning wines vintage after vintage.

  • Cabernet Sauvignon

    WINEMAKING
    To bring about rich, extracted aromas and flavors, we extend maceration on this wine for as long as two weeks. The free-run and first-press juice then spends a year aging in a combination of new and seasoned French oak barrels for complexity, suppleness and muscularity.

    TASTING NOTES
    Aromas of black cherry, red currant and dark cassis framed by notes of vanilla, mocha and toasty oak; supple tannins and a rich finish.

  • Chardonnay

    WINEMAKING
    To preserve the intense tropical aromatics inherent in the grapes at the time we pick them, we cool-ferment the fruit in stainless steel. Wine is aged in new and seasoned oak barrels for 11 months. Secondary malolactic fermentation adds delectable vanilla and buttery notes to the finished wine.

    TASTING NOTES
    Aromas of citrus, guava and mango framed with hints of vanilla bean and toasty oak; a crisp yet creamy finish.

  • Pinot Noir

    WINEMAKING
    We focus on specific Pinot Noir clones in the vineyard to provide a balance of fruit and spice characteristics. To accentuate aromas and flavors of bright red fruit, we extend maceration on the skins for 24 hours during fermentation. The wine then ages for at least 10 months in new and seasoned French oak barrels for additional structure and finesse.

    TASTING NOTES
    Aromas of black cherry, cranberry and hibiscus highlighted by notes of cola and toasty smoke; a long, silky finish.

2019 Verraco Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon

90 Points, James Suckling, March 2022

WINE REVIEWS

2019 Verraco Ridge Chardonnay

91 Points, Tasting Panel, Jan/Feb 2022
91 Points, Wine Enthusiast, Dec 2021

2020 Verraco Ridge Pinot Noir

91 Points, Publisher’s Picks,
Tasting Panel, Oct 2023

2019 Verraco Ridge Pinot Noir

90 Points, Editors’ Choice,
Wine Enthusiast, Oct 2021

 

WITH ITS MILD CLIMATE AND DRAMATIC PACIFIC COASTLINE, Monterey County has forever attracted pioneers, artists, inventors and independent thinkers.


WE GROW THE FRUIT FOR OUR WINES IN THIS FABLED REGION that shares our appreciation for the land and all it provides.


WE INVITE YOU TO EMBRACE THE BOUNTY AND BEAUTY OF MONTEREY COUNTY with our richly flavored, judiciously balanced wines.


FIND OUR WINES

 

 

WINEMAKER CHELSEA LABOON
“I love both the inspiration and science behind making wine.”

Growing up on California’s Central Coast where everywhere you look you see vineyards, Chelsea knew that making wine would be her destiny. Once she’d earned a degree in winemaking from the University of California, Davis, she set out to make her mark.

After producing complex Pinot Noirs in the Santa Ynez Valley, elegant Cabernets in Napa Valley and balanced Chardonnays in the Santa Cruz mountains, she now draws on her extensive knowledge to craft wines from our Monterey County vineyards. In her time away from the wine cellar, she’s busy making soaps or candles, baking artisanal breads, and hiking in Big Sur.

 

 

MONTEREY COUNTY
It Took Thousands of Years to Create Our One-of-a-Kind Climate  

 

With its pleasantly warm days that give way to deliciously cool nights, Monterey County offers idyllic growing conditions for wine grapes.

Most of the fruit for our Verraco Ridge wines comes from the Arroyo Seco AVA — one of California’s smallest regions — where over the millennia a waterway carved its way through a mountain range, allowing cool marine air to temper inland heat.

The result? Crisp, vibrant, and exquisitely balanced wines that reflect the special qualities of our delightfully warm, sunny vineyard.