5


6


124 CSD


biology as an undergraduate, he was called to military service. The Army made MacRostie a cryptographer and sent him to Vicenza in northern Italy. MacRostie’s military expe- rience drove him to drink— wine—and not only in Vicenza, but throughout the rest of the Veneto region, France, Germany and Spain. European wines were an “epiphany” for MacRostie, who quickly “fell in love with wine, and the idea of winemaking.” After com- pleting his stint in the Army, he returned home to California and enrolled in the enology program at UC Davis. The 1970s were great days for California wine. There was gold in Napa County, and many young winemakers made beelines there seeking it. Steve MacRostie chose a different path. He headed to Sonoma County and became winemaker


at Hacienda Winery, where he stayed for 12 years. Then, in 1987, with the support of his wife, Thale, Steve founded MacRostie Winery and Vineyards.


Sonoma County is a good place to grow Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which thrive in the cool climate close to the Pacific. Over the years, MacRostie has garnered a reputation for pro- ducing outstanding wines from those oft persnickety grapes. One secret of his success has been his long-term relationships with esteemed Sonoma growers, like the Duttons, Sangiacomos, Ritchies, Martinellis and Bacigalupis. Since 1997, MacRostie also has had a vine- yard of his very own—Wildcat Mountain Vineyard, located in the Petaluma Gap region on the borderlands between Carneros and the Sonoma Coast.


New Winemaker


After earning a degree in biochemistry, Heidi Briden- hagen traveled extensively in Europe, where she “became fascinated by the ways in which wine expressed itself in different regions.” Returning to the United States, she worked in winery laboratories in California and then headed off to New Zealand to labor in the cellar at Oyster Bay. After her sojourn in the antipodes, Heidi worked at Sonoma-Cutrer. She joined the MacRostie team as assistant winemaker in 2011, and be- came head winemaker in 2013. Heidi continues to be fas- cinated by the ways in which grapes express themselves in diverse environments. After testing grapes from the 30 Chardonnay sites and more than 15 Pinot Noir vineyards used to make MacRostie wines, Heidi does “as many as 130


5. Patio at MacRostie Estate House. 6. MacRostie wine bottles on a wall.


small fermentations each vin- tage.” This gives her a “palette of flavors from which to craft MacRostie’s Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.”


Taste Tests


MacRostie’s wines can be hard to find. Be on the lookout for them. Here are notes on three you should be able to find on a shelf near you. Fruit for the MacRostie Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2014 ($25) was grown in diverse vineyards in the Carneros, Russian River Valley and Petaluma Gap regions. The grapes were pressed in whole clusters. Most


Photographs courtesy of MacRostie/MacDonald


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