Monte Rosso

Appellation: Moon Mountain

Wineries

Wines

Grapes

  • Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Semillon
  • Zinfandel

Very approximate location based on Historical Vineyard Society.

AVA: Moon Mountain

Decade: 1880s

Current Owner: E. & J. Gallo

Planted by: Emmanuel Goldstein

Location Notes: Southwest side of the Mayacamas Range, close to the town of Agua Caliente.

Wineries: Louis M. Martini, Orin Swift

Historical Producers: Louis M. Martini, Rancho Zabaco, Biale, Ravenswood, Bedrock Wine Co, Rock Wall Wine Co, Amapola Creek, Repris, Lasseter, Carlisle

Characteristics: Vineyard historically produces wines of high acidity across all varieties and producers due to the volcanic influence and minerality in the homogenous Red Hill Loam soil, the southern facing aspect of the vineyard, and the 1300’ elevation.

Description: Emanuel Goldstein and his business partner Benjamin Dreyfus were business partners in the grocery business in San Francisco in the early 1880s when they decided to move out to Sonoma Valley and begin cultivating and planting Monte Rosso Vineyard. At the time the land was known as Monte Rosso (red earth), but the vineyard was originally called Mount Pisgah. First vines went into the ground in 1886 and some of the Zinfandel and Semillon vines that were planted then are still producing fruit today. Also in 1886, a three-story, gravity-feed winery was completed, and it was named Mount Peak. Fast forward to 1938, when the Goldstein family no longer wanted to continue farming and managing the vineyard, they sold to Louis M. Martini, who was one of the buyers at the time and had his namesake winery located in St. Helena. Louis planted the first Cabernet vines in 1940, and those vines are still producing fruit today. The vineyard at this point has grown to be at 250 acres and was majority Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Semillon, and Riesling, to name a few. Three generations of the Martini family continue to farm the vineyard up until 2002 when the vineyard and Louis M. Martini winery was sold to E. & J. Gallo Winery. Today, the vineyard has 10 varieties planted including the old Semillon, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Sauvignon.