When we purchased Alegría Vineyards In 1990, Bill was able to pursue his childhood dream of being a farmer, trading in his law books for books on viticulture, pruning shears, and a tractor.
“Alegría”, our vineyard name, means “Happiness” in Spanish. Bill is much happier working in the vineyard and making wine than he was working as a lawyer. He likes working with his hands and being outdoors. He knows every vine on our 32 acres and takes pleasure in making a physical product that people can enjoy and appreciate. As he often says, he never got such positive feedback for well-crafted legislation or a contract.
“Alegría” is also an apt description of how you will feel when you discover our wines. Betsy makes visiting ACORN Winery is a memorable experience. Betsy enjoys welcoming visitors and sharing our wines and our story.
We are passionate about preserving the tradition of field-blending and co-fermenting. The oldest part of our vineyard, which dates back to 1890, is a field blend of Zinfandel inter-planted with Alicante Bouschet, Petite Sirah, and many other grape varieties. That mixed planting inspired us to plant about 100 different varieties as we planted new vineyards adjacent to the old. As far as we know, ACORN is the only winery where every wine is a co-fermented field blend.
At first, we sold all of our grapes to Ridge Vineyards and other local wineries, but in 1994, we decided to make wine ourselves and established ACORN Winery. An acorn is a popular symbol of prosperity, good fortune, and potential. (“Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.”) We are tiny like an acorn; Our wines have a lot of potential; our historic vineyard is lined with tall oak trees; and our wine is aged in oak barrels, so ACORN was the perfect name! Our first release was our 1994 Sangiovese, co-fermented with Canaiolo and Mammolo.
We are dedicated to creating co-fermented field blends from our certified sustainable grapes that truly reflect this special place. We have always been committed to farming and living sustainably. We enjoy the biodiversity of the creatures, great and small, who share this land with us. Today, after more than 30 years, we continue to find alegría living in the middle of our vineyards, enjoying the Russian River climate, growing grapes and sharing our ACORN wines.