Benziger Family Winery
Mike Benziger converted the Sonoma Mountain estate to Biodynamic farming in 1995, and Tribute in 2001 was the first Demeter-certified Biodynamic wine released out of Sonoma County.1
Why go
Mike and his father Bruno bought the old Wegener Ranch on Sonoma Mountain in 1980 and moved in on Halloween.1 Four of Mike's siblings followed from White Plains two years later.1 Certification came in 2000, five years after the conversion, and by 2006 every wine in the portfolio carried a sustainable, organic or Biodynamic certification.1 Chris Benziger runs the home ranch, shepherds the flock and makes the Biodynamic preparations that go on the vineyard, which is the labor the certificate stands for.1 Mike retired in 2015 and Lisa Amaroli has made the wine since.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: Tribute, the estate blend. It is the Bordeaux-style wine the whole farming argument was built to produce.1
- Avoid: taking the winery's own guest quotes as reviews. The first one on the page is credited to Yelp.
Good to know
- Imagery Estate Winery is the sister property, started in 1986 as a collaboration between Joe Benziger and the artist Bob Nugent, and club members taste at both.1
- Vineyard manager Jerry Mackling worked 31 years at Kunde before taking on nine Benziger vineyards across the county in 2019.1
- I could not find a tasting price. Nothing reachable publishes one.
Verdict
could-visit — Benziger converted the Sonoma Mountain estate to Biodynamic farming in 1995 and Demeter certified it in 2000, and Tribute in 2001 was the first Certified Biodynamic wine released out of Sonoma County. That is a dated first and it is the reason to drive up London Ranch Road. Chris Benziger still shepherds the flock and makes the preparations the certification requires. Held here because the only source is the family's own timeline: I could not find a price, a booking detail or anyone's written judgment on the wine, and the quotes the winery does publish are Yelp posts.