Joseph Jewell Wines
Adrian Manspeaker drives three hours north to Humboldt County for 40 percent of his grapes and pours the result in downtown Forestville. Nights drop cold up there, so the wines keep their acid.1
Why go
Humboldt has more than 50 wineries and about 150 acres of vines, and most of those wineries buy their fruit from Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino instead.1 Manspeaker co-farms six acres of it himself, against birds, deer, bears, weather and smoke taint.1 He started making wine in 2006 and went north because competition for Sonoma fruit was already too fierce.1 Imbibe named him one of its 75 People to Watch for 2025.1 The tasting room is on Front Street in Forestville, and the rest of the range comes off Russian River and Sonoma Coast sites.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: whatever Humboldt fruit is open. It is the thing you cannot get anywhere else and the reason he is on the Imbibe list.1
- Order: the Jewell Reserve tasting if you want the deeper flight. Both tastings book through Tock.2
- Avoid: assuming this is a Russian River house. Nearly half the fruit is grown three hours away.1
What locals & experts say
- Adrian Manspeaker, in Imbibe (2025), on why Humboldt:
We have much shorter days, maximum temperatures are 80 to 82, and nighttime temperatures drop, so we see less sugar, higher natural acidity, and good hang time.
On whether he wants other buyers to follow him up there:I don't know if I want that to happen because then I have competition.
1 - Julie Benbow, executive director of the Humboldt County Visitors Bureau, in Imbibe:
he and his wines are amazing ambassadors for Humboldt County, and putting us on the Northern California wine trail.
She runs tourism for the county he buys from.1
Good to know
- Booking: Tock, for either the standard tasting or the reserve.2
- There is a vineyard dinner at Panther Ridge in 2026, sold as tickets rather than reservations.2
- I found no tasting note on any Joseph Jewell wine from a critic, so nothing here judges what is in the glass.
Verdict
could-visit — The reason to stop in Forestville is where the fruit comes from. Adrian Manspeaker drives three hours north for 40 percent of his grapes, into a county with more than 50 wineries and only 150 acres of vines, and he can tell you exactly what he is buying: days that top out at 80 to 82, nights that drop, less sugar and more natural acidity. Imbibe put him on its 75 People to Watch for 2025 on the strength of that, and the only other voice on record is a county tourism director with an obvious stake. What is missing is anybody's tasting note, so the case is a good idea rather than a judged bottle.