Steve MacRostie’s Half-Century Love Affair with Chardonnay

In 1974, when most young winemakers were focusing on working with Bordeaux varieties and establishing careers in Napa Valley, Steve MacRostie took the road less traveled, and became the inaugural winemaker for Sonoma County’s Hacienda Winery. During his 12 years at Hacienda, Steve honed his craft and earned renown as a gifted winemaker capable of making benchmark Chardonnays. During this period Steve also worked alongside his peers, including Richard Arrowood and Bob Sessions to found the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance, where he served as president and helped to tell the story of Sonoma County Chardonnay. 

Steve made his first Chardonnay at Hacienda using grapes from areas that would today include the Sonoma Coast. Back then, there were only about 40 small wineries in Sonoma County. Now there are hundreds. In terms of Chardonnay, where Steve helped lead, both geographically and stylistically, others have followed, making the Sonoma Coast one of the world’s great regions for the grape.

In 1987, when he founded MacRostie Winery and Vineyards, Steve began to pioneer a fresh, elegant style of Chardonnay that showed its roots in the cool vineyards of Sonoma County—a style that has played a pivotal role in helping to differentiate Sonoma County from other wine regions. Steve also dedicated himself to building relationships with the best Chardonnay growers in the region—relationships that have lasted for decades.

Winemaker Heidi Bridenhagen – Carrying the MacRostie Chardonnay Torch

For the past decade, MacRostie’s Chardonnay program has been guided by star Winemaker Heidi Bridenhagen, who has cemented the MacRostie style while crafting many of the most acclaimed Chardonnays in our long history. Today, our vineyard program spans 25 Chardonnay vineyards throughout California’s finest regions for the grape. In addition to our flagship Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and our Russian River Valley Chardonnay, both of which capture the character and complexity of their appellations, Heidi and her team make a renowned portfolio of single-vineyard Chardonnays. These include wines from such revered vineyards as Dutton Ranch, Sangiacomo Vineyard, Kent Ritchie Vineyard, Tollini Vineyard, Olivet Lane, Steve MacRostie’s Wildcat Mountain Vineyard, our own Nightwing Estate, and our pinnacle Chardonnay, The Key.