MacRostie Winery Estate House
More than thirty Chardonnay vineyards and fifteen Pinot Noir sites go through 130-odd small fermentations here every vintage, the Pinot in one-ton bins. You taste it on one of four patios above the Russian River Valley.1
Why go
Steve MacRostie grew up in Sacramento and went to Whitman College.1 He served in the Army as a cryptographer posted to the Veneto, which is where the wine started.1 UC Davis brought him home, and twelve years at Hacienda winery in Sonoma followed.1 He made his first Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in 1974, when the county held about forty small wineries.1 He and his wife Thale founded this in 1987.1 They planted Wildcat Mountain in the Petaluma Gap in 1997.1
Heidi Bridenhagen has run the cellar since 2013.1 She was named head winemaker at twenty-nine, the third in the winery's history.1 A biochemistry degree came first, then a harvest at Oyster Bay in New Zealand.1 She trained under Mick Schroeter and Cara Morrison at Sonoma-Cutrer, then spent two years here as assistant winemaker.1 Carolina Guerra joined her as assistant winemaker in January 2023, out of Franca-São Paulo by way of a food engineering degree, the Yarra Valley, Kendall-Jackson and La Crema.1
The fruit comes from more than thirty Chardonnay vineyards and fifteen Pinot Noir sites.1 Dutton, Sangiacomo, Ritchie, Martinelli and Bacigalupi are among them, and the Estate House sits in a fourteen-acre estate Pinot vineyard of its own.1 The vineyards are certified under California Sustainable Winegrowing.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Nightwing Experience at $125, or $80 for members, which is about two hours of barrel tasting in the winery with caviar, Sonoma cheeses and cured meats, capped at six.1
- Order: the Signature Experience at $50, five wines seated, daily between ten and five.1
- Order: the $8 iced tea flight for whoever is driving. It is non-alcoholic and comes free with membership.1
- Avoid: treating the site's accolades as evidence. Every one of them is on the winery's own timeline with no body verified.
What locals & experts say
- Heidi Bridenhagen, on what she does with 130 fermentations:
At MacRostie, I've found a winemaking home that embraces my desire to innovate. I am constantly running numerous small-lot trials in areas that include extraction levels, whole clusters, tannin management, cold soak durations, yeast strains, barrel versus tank fermentation, and more.
1 - Bridenhagen on following Steve MacRostie:
Carrying on the traditions of an iconic winery, while helping to chart the course for its future, is an undertaking that requires respect, thoughtfulness and vision.
1
Good to know
- Book on Tock. Groups of seven to twenty pay the same per head with a 20 percent service charge added.1
- Serene Sundays is $50 with live music and a complimentary Quail & Condor pastry, booked between ten and two.1
- Leashed dogs are welcome outdoors only.1
- Private events run Monday to Friday for seven to forty guests.1
Verdict
could-visit — Dutton, Sangiacomo, Ritchie, Martinelli and Bacigalupi all sell fruit into this cellar, which is a buying list most wineries would not get near. Steve MacRostie made his first Chardonnay in 1974 and founded this with Thale in 1987 after twelve years at Hacienda, and Heidi Bridenhagen has run it since 2013, when she was named head winemaker at twenty-nine. The Nightwing tasting is two hours of barrel samples with caviar and Sonoma cheeses, and there is an $8 iced tea flight for whoever is driving. Every accolade on the site is unverified, and no writer outside the winery has been.