View of M-Bar Ranch grapevines from terrace shaded by mulberry trees, image by JH Hayes
Bart walking through the vineyard at M-Bar Ranch with proprietor Liz Moffitt. Photo by JH Hayes
Proprietor Liz Moffitt, Jaime, Daphne and Bart observing harvest activity at M-Bar Ranch
Daphne, Jaime and Bart with M-Bar Ranch proprietor Liz Moffitt
Sunrise peeking through the vines at M-Bar Ranch
Harvesting grapes at M-Bar Ranch. Photo by JH Hayes
Harvesting grapes at M-Bar Ranch. Photo by JH Hayes
An expert vineyard worker harvests cabernet clusters by hand at M-Bar Ranch, photo by JH Hayes
In 2014, Mike Wolf introduced us to Liz Moffitt, the owner of a 70-acre ranch with an extraordinary jewel box of a 3.5-acre vineyard adjacent to the southern border of Vine Hill Ranch; Hopper Creek separates the two properties. When we first met Liz, we immediately bonded with her because of shared core beliefs in farming and wine, as well as personal interests in education, health care, land preservation, and love of horses.
Liz and her family provided M-Bar grapes exclusively to the Robert Mondavi Winery for 50 years. By 2014, Liz needed to replant her vineyard and was looking to partner with another family legacy wine brand, similar to her relationship with the Mondavi family in the earlier years. Mike Wolf felt that our family would be a good fit. Understanding the terroir of her “neighborhood” (Vine Hill Ranch, Harlan Estate), and knowing firsthand the level of farming that Mike, Caleb and their team employs, we worked closely with them to choose rootstock, clones, vine spacing, and trellis architecture for the M-Bar vineyard redevelopment. We view the potential of this site to be equivalent to Vine Hill Ranch.
We first sourced fruit from M-Bar Ranch in 2019; the resulting wine is generous and full, with fine, lush tannins. It promises to bring a strong component of richness, juiciness and roundness to the blending table.
