From the Old (Ancient) World to the New World

As one of the world’s great wine grapes, Pinot Noir has a fascinating history and one that is somewhat shrouded in mystery. While Pinot Noir is an ancient variety and may have originated in Egypt’s Nile Valley or in North Africa, it earned its reputation for producing some of the world’s most extraordinary wines in Burgundy, where the first reference to the grape dates back to the 14th century. Over the last two centuries, it has been widely propagated, resulting in over a thousand registered clones. Historically, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Meunier were all considered distinct varietals of the “Pinot family,” however recent DNA profiling has shown that all of the above grapes share the same genetic profile.

Pinot Noir Travels the World

The name Pinot Noir likely comes from the French words for pine and black, with pine being a reference to Pinot’s tightly clustered, pinecone-shaped bunches. The tight nature of Pinot’s clusters makes it susceptible to issues like mildew and uneven ripeness. As a result, Pinot has been called the “heartbreak grape,” for the challenges that come with its farming. In fact, referencing the difficulty of growing Pinot Noir, legendary California winemaker, André Tchelistcheff famously said, “God made Cabernet Sauvignon, whereas the devil made Pinot Noir.” Even so, Pinot has migrated from its historic home in the Burgundy region of France and is now grown in almost every cool-climate wine region on earth, including England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland in Europe, Argentina and Chile in South America, Australia and New Zealand in the southern hemisphere, and Canada and the US in North America. Perhaps more than any other grape, Pinot Noir has earned a reputation for reflecting its terroir. From clone and rootstock selection to soil type, elevation, exposure, and climate, the finest Pinot Noirs have a profound ability to express a distinctive and delicious sense of place.

Pinot Comes to America

In the US, the history of Pinot Noir dates back to the 1850s, when early winegrowing pioneers planted the grape in California. By the 1880s it was being grown by Fountaingrove Winery in Sonoma County, at Stanly Ranch in Carneros, and by Gustav Niebaum, who planted the Pinot Noir that would become the basis for the famed Martini Clone at Inglenook. By the 1940s, most of the Pinot in California was planted in Napa Valley, but as an understanding of the grape evolved, planting moved further and further westward to regions like Sonoma County, Anderson Valley, and the Central Coast—cool-climate regions where Pinot Noir was better suited.

MacRostie’s Love Affair with Pinot

While the MacRostie story is rooted in our love of Chardonnay, which is the grape we made our name with, as the other great Burgundian varietal our history with Pinot goes back almost as far. We began our journey with Pinot Noir in the Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley AVAs, where we work with legendary growers like the Sangiacomos, Martinellis, Duttons, and Bacigalupis. Recognized for producing some of the world’s finest Pinot Noirs, these are the regions that catapulted New World Pinot Noir onto the world stage. However, as the US Pinot Noir boom has reshaped the landscape of American wine over the past two decades, we have continued our exploration of great Pinot Noir to exciting new AVAs. This includes nearby regions like the Petaluma Gap, where our acclaimed Nightwing Vineyard is located, Fort-Ross Seaview on the far Sonoma Coast, Anderson Valley to the north, and down south to the Santa Maria Valley on the Central Coast.

While there is no one-size-fits-all way to describe the unique Pinot Noirs from each region, each one brings something special to our portfolio. They also tell the story of our evolving understanding of Pinot Noir and the qualities we prize from the varietal. At MacRostie, because we strive to craft wines that are vibrant and balanced, with soaring flavors and sophisticated structures, we have been thrilled to see more and more great vineyards planted in regions once thought to be too cold, and too difficult, to grow great Pinot Noir. The truth is, Pinot loves a challenge. Grown under cool, stressed conditions, Pinot can exhibit almost otherworldly levels of character and charm, with the nuanced, terroir-inspired aromas and flavors that make savoring a great Pinot both sensual and cerebral. Like a treasure map of California’s greatest cool-climate wine regions, we invite you to explore our portfolio of appellation- and vineyard-designated Pinot Noirs.

As we brought in our final grapes of the season on October 10th, I took a moment to reflect on how far MacRostie has come and how much I’ve learned over the years. 2025 marks my fifteenth harvest at MacRostie, and my 13th vintage as winemaker. Each season is unique, and 2025 was one of patience, collaboration, and beautiful balance, offering a true reminder of why I love what I do.

A Calm, Balanced Start

The year began with average rainfall and healthy cover crops. While frost was a brief concern, our team and the growers we work with are among the best in the business and we came out of an early season cold snap unscathed. Across our vineyards in the Sonoma Coast and the Russian River Valley, the vines looked vibrant and full of promise. A cool spring delayed bud break slightly and stretched bloom over several weeks, creating wide variation from vineyard to vineyard, one of the qualities that makes this region so fascinating. At our Thale’s Vineyard, bloom began in early May, while at Nightwing Vineyard, Chardonnay bloomed much later. Even with some high mildew pressure in July, our expert growers, including the Duttons, Sangiacomos, and Bacigalupis, worked their magic and kept the vines healthy and thriving.

Summer Heat and Perfect Timing

By early August, we were tracking two to four weeks behind schedule. Warm weather over Labor Day weekend helped ripening accelerate, followed by a gentle cool-down that set the stage for an ideal harvest. Our first Pinot Noir pick came from Thale’s Vineyard on September 5th, and our last Pinot came from Dutton family’s Manzana Vineyard on October 6th. For Chardonnay, we started with Bacigalupi Vineyard on September 16th and finished with our Nightwing Estate and Dutton Jewell Ranch on October 10th.

Overall, yields were up about 10% for Chardonnay, while Pinot Noir came in right on average. The fruit was exceptional, offering juicy, vibrant berries with pure flavor expression and no dehydration. The Pinot Noirs show the complete spectrum of deep red, blue, and black fruit tones with solid color and concentration, while the Chardonnays are radiant, fruit-forward, and elegantly structured.

Vineyard Highlights

At Nightwing Vineyard, years of close observation are paying off. We’ve learned how each clone and block behaves and have fine-tuned our approach to pruning, canopy management, and harvest timing accordingly for each. As a result, the consistency and quality from Nightwing continue to impress. At Thale’s Vineyard, we’ve advanced our canopy coverage experiments to adapt to its warmer location. By using shade cloth, nutrient adjustments, and even natural clay applications (a kind of sunscreen for grapes), we’re protecting fruit freshness during heat events — an exciting evolution in our farming approach.

Teamwork and Innovation

One of my favorite parts of this harvest was the energy in the cellar. Our Cellar Master, Francisco “Paco,” completed his second vintage with us, and our Assistant Winemaker, Carolina, her fifth, with both bringing incredible skill and enthusiasm to their work. We also had two returning interns, which is uncommon. Collectively, the whole team worked together seamlessly, sharing knowledge, running small-lot trials, and keeping things fun along the way. We even did a team pick of one block of our Thale’s Vineyard, and celebrated together afterwards with a toast of sparkling wine to another great year.

Looking Ahead

While it’s far to early to herald the greatness of the vintage, I’m especially excited about several wines, including the Soberanes Vineyard Pinot Noir, and our wines from the Sangiacomo and Bacigalupi vineyards, both of which delivered stellar fruit. I also expect another sensational vintage from Nightwing. While it will be a while until we share most of our 2025, I’m already looking forward to the spring 2026 release of our 2025 Rosé of Pinot Noir, along with the debut of our new 2025 MacRostie Sauvignon Blanc, both of which reflect the craftsmanship and curiosity that define MacRostie.

As I look back on the 2025 harvest, I’m proud of the teamwork, creativity, and care that made this season special. From Thale’s to Nightwing and beyond, the vineyards shone, and our 2025 wines will too.

Winemaker Heidi Bridenhagen
MacRostie Winery & Vineyards

In the few short years since we unveiled the debut wines from our Nightwing Estate Vineyard in the Petaluma Gap AVA, Nightwing has rapidly emerged as one of California’s most acclaimed and exciting young Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyards. Earning across-the-board rave reviews from critics and numerous mid-90-point scores, it has exceeded all expectations and validated our belief in the remarkable quality of the site and its potential to become one of California’s greatest cool-climate vineyards.

Wind to Wine in the Petaluma Gap

Understanding why Nightwing Vineyard is so extraordinary begins by understanding the Petaluma Gap appellation (AVA), which only earned official AVA status in 2017. While the AVA may be new, among winemakers who focus on cool-climate grapes it has long been viewed as one of California’s top regions for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It is also a region that our Winemaker Heidi Bridenhagen has worked with for many years and is so passionate about that she currently serves as President on the Board of Directors of the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance. The slogan for the AVA is “Wind to Wine,” and for good reason. The Petaluma Gap benefits from a wind gap in the coastal mountain range that funnels cooling breezes and fog east from the Pacific Ocean through Petaluma and south to San Pablo Bay. These persistent afternoon breezes result in lower yields and generous hangtimes, enabling flavors and fruit characteristics to fully develop, while creating beautifully balanced wines of uncommon depth and distinction. Though the AVA spans more than 200,000 acres, only about 4,000 are planted to vines spread across more than 70 vineyards.

Nightwing Takes Flight

In 2017, when Heidi and our founder, Steve MacRostie, first saw the unplanted land that would become Nightwing Vineyard, they both immediately recognized the site’s incredible untapped potential. “Great Pinot Noir and Chardonnay land in California is becoming more and more rare and Nightwing is Pinot and Chardonnay nirvana,” said Heidi, who personally selected Nightwing’s nine clones of Pinot Noir, nine clones of Chardonnay, and seven rootstocks. In partnership with Atlas Vineyard Management, which farms the nearby Gap’s Crown and Sunchase vineyards, Heidi oversaw the design and planting of Nightwing, which features numerous elevations, exposures and soil compositions. To take full advantage of this diversity, the vineyard was planted as a mosaic of 35 blocks featuring 44 acres of Pinot Noir and 30 acres of Chardonnay, with planted elevations reaching heights of 1,400 feet. “When we planted Nightwing, we leaned into the site’s natural diversity by planting multiple block and clone combinations,” said Heidi. “Today, several of those small blocks are the source for some of our most sought-after wines, including Nightwing Calera Clone Pinot Noir, Swan Clone Pinot Noir, and our Nightwing First Flight Pinot Noir.

About the Name Nightwing

We called the vineyard Nightwing in honor of Vernon Morelli, the property’s original owner and a WWII pilot who built a landing strip on the site. We also selected the name as a nod to the Petaluma Gap’s many indigenous birds. There are over 200 species of birds native to the Sonoma region, and some migrate in huge flocks at night. While we serve as caretakers of the vineyard by day, the name Nightwing acknowledges the many birds who watch over the land after dark, including the majestic Night Heron.

Experiencing Nightwing

Since we only occasionally host events at Nightwing, we unveiled a special experience last year to spotlight the vineyard and to help our customers forge a deeper connection with this exciting site and its wines. Focused exclusively on 90+ point wines from Nightwing, our 2-hour Nightwing Food & Wine Experience is a must for anyone who loves great food and wine pairings. The experience includes a flight of acclaimed current releases paired with caviar, local artisan cheeses and cured meats, as well as barrel samples of yet-to-be-released vintages from Nightwing. During the tasting, which features a delicious array of single-vineyard and single-clone bottlings, our Wine Ambassadors share stories about Nightwing, its history and what makes it such an extraordinary source for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

“Great vineyards are like great wineries,” added Heidi. “When properly stewarded, they evolve, mature and get better and better with age. Nightwing is on an extraordinary trajectory with the potential to become one of Sonoma’s grand cru-caliber vineyards.”