Our Estate & Winemaking
Round Pond Estate is a 468-acre Rutherford farm and winery with more than four decades of experience growing world-class Cabernet Sauvignon in one of Napa Valley’s most celebrated appellations. Our non-interventionist winemaking approach lets the inherent quality of the fruit speak, allowing each wine to find its own expressive voice.
Rutherford: A Region Like No Other
Located in the heart of Napa Valley, Rutherford has been recognized for more than a century as one of the world’s great winegrowing regions, producing red wines of incomparable depth and elegance. Although measuring a mere six square miles, this coveted appellation is home to some of the oldest and most storied wineries in the United States — we are proud to call it home, neighbored by Beaulieu Vineyards, Caymus, Cakebread, Honig, and Frog’s Leap.
Rutherford’s magic lies in a rare combination of microclimate and earth: abundant sunshine and warm days that produce fruit with ripe, robust character, and alluvial soils — deposited over millennia by the Napa and Russian rivers and Conn Creek — that bring complexity, structure, and that unmistakable Rutherford dust.
The Round Pond Estate spans 362 acres of planted vineyards across five distinct sites: Red Barn Ranch, Hill’s Vineyard, M-Bar Ranch, Round Pond Vineyard, MacDonnell Vineyards.
Our soils are extremely fertile due to deposits from alluvial outflows of the Conn Creek and Napa River on either side of the property that took place thousands of years ago.
As a result, vine health is exceptional, and the vines grow vigorously. To ensure top quality, we maintain vine balance and reduce yields by limiting each vine to two clusters per shoot, making certain that no two clusters touch one another. We carefully work the canopy to establish a good ratio of sunlight to shade, and use advanced technology to monitor hydration levels in the soil.
Our vineyards have been planted to selections of elite clones including 337, 7, and 8, each carefully matched with the optimal soil, rootstock, and trellising system. Soil types include gravelly and sandy clay loam, while our trellising systems incorporate Geneva Double Curtain, Fletcher Lyre, Split Canopy Lyre, and Vertical Shoot Positioning. Vine age at Round Pond averages 10 to 15 years.
Our Winemaking
At Round Pond Estate, we pay tribute to the personality of our estate vineyards by crafting wines that reflect the charm and sophistication of this extraordinary appellation. Made from select blocks of our best estate fruit, our wines embody the essence of a terroir-inspired, Californian winemaking philosophy.
In the vineyard, our team is a constant presence. During every step of the growing season, we are working with the vines to develop balance — balanced growth, crop load, sun exposure, ripening, and flavor development.
In the Cellar, Rutherford Reds
Our goal with red winemaking is to promote the saturated red and black fruited qualities that reflect our ample sunlight. Vineyard soils influence the structure and mouthfeel of our wines.
Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is harvested from loamy soils, which lend a soft texture that is approachable as a young wine. Bovet & Gravel Tier wines are sourced from areas with loose, difficult soils of sand and gravel that impart pronounced tannin structure, earthiness, age-ability, and that distinctive Rutherford dust.
Wines ferment in small, temperature-controlled tanks for up to three weeks before going down to French oak barrels for a 20-month aging period.
In the Cellar, Rutherford Whites
Our mission with white winemaking is to highlight the freshness of the grapes’ aromas and preserve a crisp, clean mouthfeel. For textural and aromatic depth, we harvest grapes from various sun exposures and ripeness levels.
Grapes are harvested and gently pressed as whole clusters at low pressures. Fermentations are slow and cool, enhancing aromatic concentration and a bright palate.
Our Winemakers
Thomas Rivers Brown, Consulting Winemaker
Our Consulting Winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown is one of the most exciting young talents in Napa Valley. Born in Sumter, South Carolina, Thomas developed an interest in wine while at the University of Virginia. Later he expanded his knowledge of wines from all the world’s great regions while working at All Seasons Wine Shop in Calistoga. Beginning at Turley Estate in the late 1990s, and continuing today at Schrader, Maybach Cellars, Outpost and his own project, Rivers-Marie, he crafts beautiful wines that speak of the land and conditions that created them.
Jeff Plant, Estate Winemaker
A Napa native, Jeff started his wine career at Provenance under the direction of Tom Rinaldi and Chris Cooney, learning winemaking from the ground up. After continuing his education both in the classroom and with hands-on experience, he came to Round Pond in 2015 as a cellar master. Since then he has continued to learn and grow his winemaking skills, believing that every year is a new opportunity to craft your best bottle of wine.
Rachel Jess, Assistant Winemaker
Rachel earned her degree in Viticulture and Enology from UC Davis, drawn to winemaking for its mix of science and creativity. After her first harvest at Round Pond, she gained experience in Australia and the Russian River Valley before returning as assistant winemaker. She loves the hands-on nature of the job and watching each wine evolve.
Beyond the Vines
From 362 planted acres, Round Pond produces an acclaimed estate wine program built around world-class Cabernet Sauvignon in extremely limited quantities. Alongside our wines, we craft prized red wine vinegars using the revered Orleans Method, and estate olive oils pressed from our own orchards.
Recognizing our estate’s ecological diversity, we undertook the planting of several varieties of imported Italian and Spanish olive trees for the production of premium oils. Because we are passionate about offering the finest gourmet items from the gifts nature has given us, we constructed a state-of-the-art mill to ensure absolute quality in the production of our artisan oils.
Rutherford’s magic lies in a rare combination of microclimate and earth: abundant sunshine and warm days that produce fruit with ripe, robust character, and alluvial soils — deposited over millennia by the Napa and Russian rivers and Conn Creek — that bring complexity, structure, and that unmistakable Rutherford dust.
“We believe that the best wines are born in the vineyard. Because we begin with some of the finest wine grapes in the world, our goal is not to construct a personality for Round Pond wines, but to allow each Round Pond wine to find its own expressive voice.”
Miles MacDonnell