Ferrari Ranch winemaker has roots in Willow Glen

Ross Reedy could perfectly be on his way to getting to be a rockstar winemaker, but he’s not allowing it go to his head.

“I begun making wine in the garage with my father where I grew up in Willow Glen,” Reedy, a graduate of Archbishop Mitty Substantial School, advised a crowd at Liz and Dave Ferrari’s Monte Sereno house.

Fronted by rows of zinfandel grapes from which Reedy crafts rosé for the Ferrari Ranch label, the stone-faced house offered respite versus the heat of a summer months afternoon, as the Ferraris shared the latest releases from their winery house in Corralitos (previously recognized as Woodruff Vineyard) with neighbors and friends.

The zin rosé tasted really great. “It’s produced for days just like this,” said Reedy. “We tried using creating red wine from it, but it seriously just wanted to be rosé.”

Reedy also produced a 2021 rosé from pinot noir developed at the Ferraris’ vineyard, which was met with acceptance for its vivid and tangy raspberry fruit.

The Reedy family’s grape obsession started in 1959, when his grandfather purchased a prune orchard property in Alexander Valley. Out arrived prunes in went vines.

“We have about 125 acres of grapes, largely cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay.  there is also a bit of sauv blanc, and I planted some malbec previous 12 months.” These times, he is so fast paced producing wine for Ferrari Ranch and for VML in Healdsburg that he has no bandwidth to make wine from the family’s grapes.

His dad, Randy Reedy, is an attorney who has an workplace higher than Excellent Bear Espresso in Los Gatos. Ross describes him as a resourceful sort who likes to create and engage in music, as very well as make wine. The latter is a multigenerational endeavor.

“Some of my initial reminiscences were with my grandfather, punching down the cap of his handmade fermenting cab sauv in my moms and dads garage,” the young Reedy said.

Educated at Cal Poly, Reedy started his official winemaking with Scott Hawley of Torrin Wines, a Rhone dwelling. In Australia, he was launched by Brendon Keyes of BK Wines to pinot noir, which he describes as the beginning of a attractive connection.

He credits VML winemaker Ginny Lambrix as becoming the most influential muse with whom he’s labored.

“She was very sharp and manufactured killer wines,” Reedy said. “I began functioning for her in 2012, when Truett Hurst (the mother or father company of VML) had a huge wholesale organization.”

That element of the business was ultimately offered off, and he now concentrates on little good deal wines.

Reedy finished up as winemaker for Ferrari Ranch because his spouse works for Dave and Liz at their “day job” business, 1 Place of work. He admitted that Ferrari can be a hard winery, but mentioned it’s also one of his favorites.

“The pinot from there is so fragile, which results in beautifully structured and perfumey wine with extraordinary fruit,” Reedy additional. “But it’s a challenge in the cellar.  Our approaches are so mild and as anaerobic as attainable, and the moment you change your back again on it, it’ll commence misbehaving. Its variety of like caring for an toddler.”

The chardonnay, Reedy claimed, has ample organic acidity. “If picked much too early, it will burn the enamel right off your teeth, so the decide on connect with is absolutely important.”

The 2020 chardonnay, picked in defiance of the 2020 CZU fireplace that induced havoc for several Santa Cruz Mountains growers, is a gem. For Reedy, it was vindication. He had missing considerably of his fruit for VML owing to the fires up in Sonoma, so this was a moonshot that really scored.

Ferrari Ranch is now open up for tasting by reservation on Saturdays in Corralitos. Reservations can be created at