In 1999, two months after Brice Cutrer Jones signed the last of the papers turning over control of the 26-year-old Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards (SCV) to liquor company Brown-Forman, Jones and his team of six key, long-term employees (the Emeritus Team) and six long-time investors closed on the purchase of Don and Marcia Hallberg's 115 acres of prime apple orchard in the heart of the Russian River Valley. The land is located just 10 miles west of SCV, two miles north of Sebastopol, on both sides of the Gravenstein Highway and directly on the Gold Ridge-the name of the predominate soils of the area. From the time the Russians planted the first winegrapes in California at Fort Ross on the Sonoma Coast in 1812, vineyards flourished in Sonoma County. At the end of 1861, Sonoma County was California's second largest wine district, behind Los Angeles. By 1874, Sonoma County had moved into first position, and at the time Prohibition began, there were 40,000 acres of winegrapes and 256 wineries within her borders, 26 of which were within a ten-mile radius of the Hallberg ranch. Even then, the combination of the cool climate, the rolling hills, and the deep, well-drained Gold Ridge soils of the area produced a large portion of Sonoma County's most desirable wine grapes.
With prohibition came the removal of most of the area's vineyards, and apples (and in other areas, prunes) took their place. Sebastopol became widely recognized as the capital of America's finest apple production. Several processing plants sprang up in the area, and Don and Marcia Hallberg eventually processed their own apples in a huge barn on the property. They continued growing and processing apples long past the point that most of the profit had gone out of the business, as Washington state, with plentiful water and cheap power as a result of the Columbia River Basin Project, undercut the California industry. At the same time, orchard land became more and more valuable as premium wine grape land.
After acquiring the Hallberg property in 1999, Emeritus cleared the land over a three-year period and planted Pinot Noir grapes. The resulting harvest were sold to various wineries in the area. With consulting winemaker Rob Tomerlin (previously also with SCV), the Company experimented with small lots of its own wine, and began to outfit the Hallberg barn with fermentation vats, barrels, and environmental controls. Then, after three approaches over four years, Mr. Jones was able to finally attract longtime Pinot-phile, Burgundy-trained winemaker Don Blackburn to the company. Don came aboard in time to begin the first harvest William Wesley Vineyard the next day.
The three basic factors that influence wine are soil, climate, and man. As for climate, the Russian River Valley is home to many of the finest Pinot Noirs produced in America over the last 30 years. The land that is the Hallberg Vineyard has a heritage that gives every indication that it can and will produce absolutely distinctive fruit. And finally, today, we have assembled what many consider to be a team without equal in the business—The Emeritus Team.