Located along the Sonoma Coast in the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA, Fort Ross Vineyard and Winery produces Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinotage from hand-picked, estate fruit. Owners Lester and Linda Schwartz met at the University of Cape Town, South Africa in the 1960s and moved to California's Sonoma Coast in 1976. Their attention to detail is legendary – they did exhaustive tests before planting carefully selected clones and rootstocks and have taken over 10 years to complete planting. They have applied equal consideration to their choice of winemaker. Prior to their first harvest, they worked with Fred Scherrer, known as a “winemaker's winemaker” who helped guide Fort Ross through its early years. Since then, similarly regarded winemakers such as Ed Kurtzman and Helen Keplinger have followed. Currently, Jeff Pisoni of Pisoni is the current winemaker.
