California Vineyard Series: Bedrock Vineyard 

BY ANTONIO GALLONI |

First planted in 1854, Bedrock is one of the most historically significant vineyards in Sonoma Valley’s Central Corridor, a stretch of land that runs northwest from the town of Sonoma and includes a number of notable sites, including Serres Ranch, Old Hill, Pagani Ranch, Beltane Ranch, Wildwood, Kunde and others. In my view, these are among the most pedigreed vineyard sites anywhere in the world. Wine quality hasn’t always captured the maximum potential these sites are capable of, but that is a story for another day.

A Rich and Colorful History

Bedrock has a rich, colorful history that goes all the way back to the mid 1800s. Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Joseph Hooker, two important figures during the American Civil War, first planted the ranch and built a winery on the site in 1854. The original Hooker Ranch, as it was known at the time, covered one square mile. George Watriss bought the ranch sometime in the 1860s or 1870s, in time to appear as the owner of the property in the 1877 Atlas of Sonoma County. In the years that followed George Washington Whitman, a politician, miner and adventurer, and then Eli T. Sheppard, the former American Consul to China, owned the land.

Sadly, phylloxera exacted its wrath in the late 1880s. Senator George Hearst, the father of publisher William Randolph Hearst, bought the ranch in 1887 and replanted the following year. Hearst grew the property to its largest size ever, 550 acres in total. In 1906, his widow, Phoebe Apperson-Hearst, sold the land to the California Wine Association, a large monopoly active during that time.

The 1890s map of Sonoma Valley shows property boundaries and owners of the time against a backdrop of the Mexican land grants. The present-day Bedrock and its then-owner Phoebe Apperson-Heart are found in the Rancho Aqua Caliente section, about two-thirds down the map from the top. Photographed at the Bedrock tasting room in the Joseph Hooker House in Sonoma Plaza.

The 1890s map of Sonoma Valley shows property boundaries and owners of the time against a backdrop of the Mexican land grants. The present-day Bedrock and its then-owner Phoebe Apperson-Heart are found in the Rancho Aqua Caliente section, about two-thirds down the map from the top. Photographed at the Bedrock tasting room in the Joseph Hooker House in Sonoma Plaza.

Peter Domenici and Enrico Parducci, Italian immigrants and partners in a sausage business, bought the property in 1934. Twenty years later, the families had a massive falling out and decided to split their holdings, supposedly flipping a coin in the middle of Madrone Road to decide who got what. The Parduccis opted for the smaller plot of land, which included the Valley of the Moon winery, while the Domenicis took the larger piece, an area encompassing the present-day Bedrock, Barricia and Engebreth vineyards.

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First planted in 1854, Bedrock is one of the most historically significant vineyards in Sonoma Valley’s Central Corridor, a stretch of land that runs northwest from the town of Sonoma and includes a number of notable sites, including Serres Ranch, Old Hill, Pagani Ranch, Beltane Ranch, Wildwood, Kunde and others. In my view, these are among the most pedigreed vineyard sites anywhere in the world.

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