Pedroncelli Winery

Ten thousand of their fifteen thousand cases of Zinfandel are Mother Clone, blended with fruit off Home Ranch vines more than a hundred years old, and the winemaker's job on it is to change nothing. Flights are $25 to $35.1

Why go

Giovanni and Julia Pedroncelli bought a ninety-acre property west of Geyserville in 1927 with twenty-five acres of Zinfandel on it and a small winery Prohibition had closed.1 He sold grapes to home winemakers until repeal and opened the winery in 1934.1 John Jr. took over the winemaking in 1948 and ran it for nearly seventy years until he died in 2015; his brother Jim took sales in 1955 and the two bought the place from their father in 1963.2 Julie Pedroncelli St. John, Jim's daughter, has been president since 2022, and the company is seventy percent woman-owned.1 2

Montse Reece was born in Catalonia and has been here nineteen years, winemaker since 2015.1 The farming on Home Ranch is cover crops of barley, oats and bell beans turned in for nitrogen, no synthetic pesticides, hand pruning and picking where they can, and pomace and prunings composted back.2 They claim no organic or biodynamic certification.

Order this / avoid

Order: Mother Clone Zinfandel. Two thirds of the Zinfandel they make is this wine, and it carries fruit from the old block.1
Order: the Blanc de Blancs, their first sparkling, off Chardonnay from F. Johnson Vineyard.1
Order: the Syrah if you want to see a Dry Creek house aim at 12.9 percent on purpose.1
Avoid: asking for the Pinot Noir. They stopped making it in 2022.1

What locals & experts say

Sarah Doyle, The Press Democrat (3 March 2025), on the Sauvignon Blanc: a Sauvignon Blanc brimming with lemon zest, green apple and crunchy acidity. Her opening line frames the rest: A low-alcohol Syrah and Provence-style rosé isn't what you'd expect from a 98-year-old Zinfandel producer in Dry Creek Valley.1
Montse Reece, on Mother Clone: Every year I continue the tradition of this wine by not changing anything about the way it's made. This is how it's been done forever. It tells the story of winemaking in Dry Creek Valley and how wine was made many years ago.1
Reece on the oak: And the oak is very subtle — not in your face. It's just a supporting actor.1

Good to know

Monday 12:00 to 4:30, Wednesday to Sunday 10:00 to 4:30, last seating at 3:30, closed Tuesday.2
Three seated flights at $25 to $35, indoors or on the patio, waived for club members and two guests.2
Leashed pets are welcome on the lower deck if you give notice. Groups of six or more go through hospitality director Colin Sinclair.2
The original wooden entrance sign is in the Smithsonian, at the National Museum of American History, by the winery's own account.2

Verdict

should-visit — Giovanni and Julia Pedroncelli bought ninety acres west of Geyserville in 1927 with a winery Prohibition had shut on it, sold grapes to home winemakers until repeal, and opened in 1934. Montse Reece has been here nineteen years and keeps the oak, in her words, a supporting actor. The prices are close to free for Dry Creek Valley, the original wooden entrance sign is in the Smithsonian, and they dropped Pinot Noir in 2022 to make a sparkling Blanc de Blancs and a Syrah aimed at 12.9 percent. Sarah Doyle put it exactly right in March 2025: "A low-alcohol Syrah and Provence-style rosé isn't what you'd expect from a 98-year-old Zinfandel producer in Dry Creek Valley."

Pedroncelli Winery.