Mendocino Hill

Every now and then Lady Luck comes calling. Take the case of Dick Sherwin, a multi-talented professional whose activities included publication of Wine World Magazine. On a business trip to San Francisco in 1968, he happened to buy an amateur winemaking kit. The wine he made from the kit, he confesses, was pretty terrible, but he had been bitten by the wine bug.


By 1970 he was making regular visits to Sonoma County and on one of his trips he made another buy, purchasing a piece of vineyard land, on Lytton Springs Road, in Healdsburg (CA). The 50 acres of vineyard, which he named Valley Vista, was planted with 50-year-old Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. “From a practical standpoint,” he admits, “the vineyard purchase was not a good idea.” From the standpoint of sheer luck, we hit the jackpot.” Winemakers vied for the grapes, which produced big, fruity wines, and for years Ridge Winery built a reputation for outstanding, full-bodied Zins, using Valley Vista grapes.

By 1977 Dick had moved north, built a winery and was making his own remarkable Lytton Springs Zinfandel. All was going nicely, when one day he saw an ad for 287 acres of land, with vineyard, in Mendocino County for $295,000. The price seemed astonishingly low to Dick, but the mortgage holder was eager to get rid of the property, so Dick and his wife, Dorinda, took a drive, and struck a deal.

This old vineyard was planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The vines had been sadly neglected, but the young couple improved the vineyards, pruned the vines and made their first wines. Dick introduced his Mendocino label in 1989, and two years later sold the Lytton Springs property and in 1996 moved his family to Hopland. By then Mendocino Hill Cabernet was winning medals.

Now Syrah and Sangiovese have joined the brand line, and distribution has reached the East Coast. In the vineyard, Dick has planted six acres of Zinfandel – just in case Lady Luck wants to come calling again.