Why Vineyard Access Might Be the Hottest New Hospitality Perk

People move to Sonoma County, California, for a deeper connection to the region’s wine. This might mean bicycling between tasting rooms or joining a winery’s membership program. But in such a winery-rich destination, when the luxury resort Montage Healdsburg began plotting its December 2020 opening, it became apparent their amenities had to be different—while still catering to wine lovers.

Those who buy residences on the 258-acre property get first dibs on wine crafted from its 15.5-acre vineyard. Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon were planted in 2019 and 2020, with the first vintage (2021) to be released between this year and 2024. Starting at $5,250,000, 25 Harvest Homes are under construction while 15 homesites begin at $1,790,000 and include access to custom home plans. “Because of the incredible demand for Montage Residences Healdsburg, we are preparing a second and final release for early 2022 of additional estate homesites,” says Anna Jones of Ohana Real Estate Investors.

Not a Ho-Hum Vineyard

This isn’t just any ho-hum vineyard residents either. Cult-favorite winemaker Jesse Katz, who makes wines for Healdsburg’s Aperture Cellars and earned 100 points from Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate for his 2018 Devil Proof Vineyards’ Malbec Farrow Ranch, is managing this vineyard and serving as winemaker. Another of Katz’s wines—2015 The Setting Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc blend—sold for $350,000 at a charity auction in 2017, a testament to its quality. Katz also made wine for Screaming Eagle Winery in Napa Valley. Not bad for a winemaker now in his late 30s.

“Homeowners will have exclusive access to seasonal winemaking events, special vintages, early access to releases, and more,” says Jones. “In fact, we just hosted an intimate homeowner event in November to celebrate the first bottles of Sauvignon Blanc made from grapes harvested from the property and Jesse Katz helped host that event.”

Katz wants to show a “behind-the-scenes look at all that’s going on in the grape-growing and winemaking at Montage Healdsburg’s estate vineyards,” he says. This includes private blends of wines made from the estate’s grapes only offered to the ownership group.

A Modern Winery and Tasting Room

Events will also be hosted at Aperture Cellars’ architecturally modern winery and tasting room, says Katz, where the wines will be made. The facility opened in spring of 2020 and was designed by Signum Architecture to emulate the aperture of a camera, fitting as Katz’s father is well-known fine-arts photographer Andy Katz. His photos appear on Aperture Cellars’ labels.

The opportunity to partner with a luxury estate like Montage Healdsburg thrilled Katz. “The climate here is perfect for growing Bordeaux reds and whites that have the rich fruit characteristics (many of) the great regions in California are famed for, a bit more nuanced and elegant than warmer regions to the south,” he says. He points to the nearby Pacific Ocean’s cool coastal influence and average 53 F temperature as one factor. “This helps to cool our nights down significantly and create large diurnal swings. It can get plenty warm here, often multiple days over 100 F, but those cool nights help the vineyard rebound quicker and cool things down faster because we have no mountains to the west of us. To me it's the best of both worlds: warm days give the fruit ripe, rich characteristics, and cool nights allow a slower ripening to give brighter, more complex flavors.”

But before proceeding with any planting, Katz examined the soil as he does at any of his vineyards. “I got to pick my favorite sites to plant all five of the red Bordeaux varietals and a few small blocks of Sauvignon Blanc creating a lot of small blocks adding up to 15.5 acres,” he says. “There are some very small blocks we decided to plant around some of the guest cottages and home sites but we wanted to make sure the vineyard experience was surrounding you when you arrived on property. It is a very special project and the best is yet to come.”

Vineyard photo credit Christian Horan

A Promising Vintage

How is the 2021 vintage—culled from grapes grown in Montage Healdsburg’s vineyard—projected to perform on the palate? “So far we are seeing the Sauvignon Blanc with incredible brightness and amazing aromatics, helped by the Sauvignon Musqué clones we planted,” says Katz. “The barrel fermentation and aging are giving it a decadence and a creamy mid-palate. I’m incredibly pleased with this young wine.”

As for the Cabernet Sauvignon wine’s Bordeaux red grapes, which are currently ageing in the barrel, “we have been very pleased with the depth of color, freshness, and elegance they are showing,” says Katz. “We know this will only get better and have great expectation for this unique site.”  

While members at Meadowood in Napa Valley have access to on-site vineyards there are not opportunities to buy property there. When asked if it’s the only example in Northern California, Katz says it is.

“As far as I know, yes,” says Katz. “The Napa Valley Reserve is a membership model from the same ownership group as Meadowood but I believe the offerings are different and there are not home sites there.”