Farmstead The Story Behind the Wines

THE STORY BEHIND THE WINES

BY LISA GMUR, CSW

Nestled in the quaint Napa Valley town of St. Helena, is one of the busiest restaurants in the United States. In fact, more than ¼ million people dine there every year. That restaurant is called Farmstead and its offspring is a winery owned by the same family, the Hall family, of Long Meadow Ranch fame.

Chris Hall, the offspring of Long Meadow Ranch founders Ted and Letty Hall, was driving through St. Helena one day about twelve, thirteen years ago on his way to their home up in the Mayacamas mountains when he noticed a “For Lease” sign on a local plant nursery. Chris pulled in and talked with the owner. It turned out that the owner was a little overwhelmed with the cost of operations and feeling the economic downturn in a big way. He was hoping to lease or sell a house on the property.

Chris jumped at the idea and proposed turning it into a tasting room for Long Meadow Ranch wines. His folks were on board too. A few years later, Long Meadow Ranch purchased the rest of the property and built the Farmstead restaurant.

FULL CIRCLE FARMING AT LONG MEADOW RANCH

Farmstead Restaurant employs a very unique concept called Full Circle Farming that is tied to the farm at Long Meadow Ranch. The first quality of fruits and vegetables grown on the farm are served at Farmstead. The second quality of their organic produce is used for soups and garnishes at the restaurant. The third layer is never for human consumption.

It is only used for the chickens and goats who eat the organic fruits and vegetables and then produce the organic eggs and dairy which are all served in the restaurant. The waste from the chickens and manure from the cattle goes into the compost program which produces 250 tons of compost a year which then gets sprinkled back into the land. You can also find everything edible from their farm (including Letty) at the local Farmer’s Market.

Today Farmstead is in the top 100 grossing single standing restaurants. And it is this popularity that helped spawn Farmstead wines. They also do a lot of weddings and events, which was another catalyst for the Farmstead Wines. They wanted a wine that they could sell they really represented what the restaurant was all about.

That brings us to Farmstead wines “which are really just an extension of Long Meadow Ranch,” says Chief Sales Officer Bradley Groper. “And we are also really proud of the fact that we have always had a female winemaker on board,” adds Groper. (Previous women winemakers at Long Meadow Ranch have included famed Napa winemakers Cathy Corison and Ashley Heisey)

These days, Lisanne Leask is Director of Winemaking for the company as well as the winemaker for the three Farmstead wines we’ve recently added to The MWG portfolio.

The Farmstead Chardonnay is sourced from like-minded growers in Carneros and has the racy acidity the folks at Long Meadow Ranch love. The Pinot Noir comes from well-heeled growers in Anderson Valley and is very Burgundian in style. The Cabernet Sauvignon hails from grower friends in Napa and is very similar in style to the Long Meadow Ranch Cabernet but at a really great BTG price.

If you haven’t tasted them yet, we can’t wait for you to try them!