Our Winemaker
Heidi Bridenhagen
A dynamic and gifted young talent, Heidi is only the third winemaker in the winery’s history. A believer in the value of exploration and experimentation, Heidi has worked closely with Steve MacRostie to establish one of the Sonoma Coast’s most diverse and acclaimed vineyard programs. To preserve this diversity, Heidi does as many as 130 small fermentations each vintage. This gives Heidi an amazing palette of flavors from which to craft MacRostie’s Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.
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Heidi earned a degree in biochemistry from the University of Colorado at Boulder. After university, Heidi spent half a year traveling through Europe. As she explored local wines in France, Italy, Spain and Germany, Heidi became fascinated by the ways in which wine expressed itself in different regions. Returning to the U.S., Heidi sought a career that engaged her scientific and creative sides. She found what she was looking for in the enology laboratory of Jackson Family Wines. During her time at Jackson Family Wines, and later at Clos du Bois, Heidi established a strong understanding of winemaking. She also found that she loved the collaborative spirit of a winery, being in the vineyards, and the constant focus on refinement through trial and experimentation. Eager to gain a more international perspective, Heidi traveled to New Zealand to work at Oyster Bay. Following Oyster Bay, she joined the team at Sonoma-Cutrer, where she worked alongside noted winemakers Mick Schroeter and Cara Morrison.
In 2011, Heidi joined MacRostie, where she found a winemaking home that embraced her desire to innovate and work in ever-smaller lots. In Steve MacRostie, she also found an engaging mentor who taught her about winegrowing and shared his decades of winemaking experience. Heidi thrived in this empowering environment, and was soon reimagining MacRostie’s Pinot Noir program, bringing in 50 small fermentation bins, so she could keep even more lots separate.
In recognition of her winemaking talents and her numerous contributions, Heidi was named the winemaker for MacRostie in 2013. Today, Heidi is as active in the vineyards as she is in the winery, traveling to all of MacRostie’s vineyard partners regularly, where she works carefully with the growers to tailor farming techniques. In the winery, Heidi and Steve are constantly refining their techniques as winemakers. By challenging and inspiring each other, Heidi and Steve are making the best wines in MacRostie’s history.
About
Our Winemaking Philosophy
At MacRostie, we work with a who’s who of the finest winegrowing sites, including more than 30 Chardonnay vineyards and over 15 Pinot Noir sites. This remarkable level of diversity allows us to explore the entirety of the Sonoma Coast, from the vibrant purity of Wildcat Mountain Vineyard to the lushness of the Russian River Valley to the nerve and ethereal aromatics of the extreme Sonoma Coast. To preserve this diversity, in the winery Steve and Heidi do as many as 130 small fermentations each vintage. While this is an incredible amount of work, when it comes time for blending, it gives us an amazing palette of flavors to work with, yielding wines of uncommon character and complexity.