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Our Vineyards

Since its start in 1995, Mutt Lynch Winery has been sourcing its grapes from several vineyards that neighbor our winery in Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County. We leave the farming to long-time grape growers, relying instead on hand shake agreements built on trust and friendship. Each and every vintage, Brenda works with our growers on the “Mutt Lynch blocks”, those rows or sections that Brenda has deemed ideal to produce our wines.

Perotti Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley

Owners – Bruce and Ed Perotti
Varietals – Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah

We have sourced our Zinfandel from Ed and Bruce Perotti (father and son) since 1997.  In 2002, our friendship led us to their 1.5 acre block of Cabernet Sauvignon and their wonderful old-vine Petite Sirah; Ed had finally decided the “young girl” winemaker knew what she was doing.  For us, our 10 years with the vineyard is quite a long time. For Ed, it is barely a blip on the screen. Walking the vineyard with this father and son team, one feels the history. The land has been in the family for over 90 years. Ed's grandfather "Mancini" came from Italy and settled into the Northern Sonoma area to raise fruits and grapes, selling them to other Italian immigrants in the North Beach community in San Francisco. Passing from father to son, Ed took over in the mid 1960's and Bruce has taken charge of farming in recent years.  The cycle continues.

Unti Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley

Owners – George Unti
Varietals – Syrah, Petite Sirah

The 2002 vintage was our first from the Unti Family Vineyard in Dry Creek Valley. George Until settled into Dry Creek Valley in the 1980’s and now farms a diverse vineyard along Dry Creek's eastern half of the valley.  We are excited to be into "year six" of our Syrah adventure with them as we finish our 2007 vintage.  Syrah is a relative newcomer to Dry Creek Valley. Our block (a whopping 3 rows totaling 186 vines) was planted in the mid 90's and is just now reaching maturity. It appears that the collection of growing factors in our block - clone, rootstock, soils - is a good match, as canopy growth and fruit set are always in balance.  Whether luck or divine selection, we're pleased.

 

Stryker Estate Vineyard, Alexander Valley

Owners – Pat Stryker

Varietals – Merlot

Although we have been making our Merlot Over and Play Dead since 1997, 2005 was the first year we decided to source our merlot fruit from Sonoma County.  Keeping things “in the family”, Brenda reached out for her brother Tim, winemaker at Stryker Sonoma in Alexander Valley, to see if we could harvest a portion of their estate block for our Merlot.  Brenda bought Tim a couple of beers at Barbie’s Alexander Valley Bar (just down the road) and brother and sister struck a deal.  Ever since, the Stryker Estate vineyard has been the backbone of our Merlot Over and Play Dead, consistently delivering bright red cherry merlot fruit with just a hint of chocolate..

Stone Vineyard, Alexander Valley

Owners – Jim Furlong
Varietals – Carignane

The secret to our Portrait of a Mutt Zinfandel, our most successful wine, has long been the “non Zinfandel” component, Carignane.  Since 2000, our Carignane has come from the Stone Vineyard in Alexander Valley, owned by Jim Furlong.  This is a classic “old vine” vineyard, dating back 75+ years.  Knarly old vines, beautiful fruit.  Carignane has long been used as a blending grape along side Zinfandel, as its bright red cherry and spice fruit character adds balance to Zinfandel’s jammy ripe fruit.  Each and every year, the Stone Vineyard Carignane has delivered this to our Portrait of a Mutt; thus the “mutt” name.