Matt Taylor Wines is a project two decades in the making and another example that California has regained its reputation as the one of the world's most dynamic wine regions. These wines are a piercing... Read More

Matt Taylor Wines is a project two decades in the making and another example that California has regained its reputation as the one of the world's most dynamic wine regions. These wines are a piercing and transparent view of the far West Sonoma Coast.

The project is the culmination of Matt's 23 years of experience in the winemaking world. A third Generation Sonoman, Matt grew up on the rugged western edge of the county. He lived in Europe for several years where he was able to work for a sherry producer in Jerez, study biodynamic farming while living with a family in Switzerland and eventually intern at the iconic Domaine Dujac in Burgundy.

Back in California he worked as assistant winemaker to Rod Berglund of Joseph Swan Vineyards, and afterwards became winegrower and then winemaker for Biodynamic producers Bart & Daphne Araujo. His broad experiences with Araujo Estate Wines also include harvests in Mendoza and Cafayate, Argentina, and another in Hawke’s Bay New Zealand.

With so much talent and experience supporting him, Matt went searching for a piece of earth that was capable of helping him achieve his vision. He broke ground on two pristine parcels of land, located 4.5 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean on a ridge due west of the town of Occidental. The site is just down the road from where Matt was born and raised. He considers this area on the fringe of where grape growing is feasible in California. It's these rugged, marginal spots that allow for wines that are transparent and unadulterated.

The first parcel was planted in 2011 to the king and Queen of the Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Massale selections were sourced locally but their true identity will forever remain a mystery (I'm gonna guess at least some came from Ross Cobb’s neighboring Coastland Vineyard).

This parcel is known as the Komorebi Vineyard because the 6.25-acre vineyard is in close proximity to sequoia trees. In Japanese, the word “Komorebi” means “sunlight filtered through the leaves of trees.” The soils consist of Goldridge fine sandy loam, the region's gold standard and is dry farmed organically and biodynamically. The site’s extremely long growing season and cool climate combined with high-density plantings (3,600 vines per acre versus the more typical 1,800 vines per acre in California) allows the grapes to achieve “skin maturity” and a natural acidity that is atypical in California.

winemaking is as natural as possible with native yeast whole cluster fermentation occurring in concrete or neutral oak. The wines are never fined or filtered and there is zero SO2 in the Chardonnay and only a minuscule amount in the Pinots.

Matt preaches no dogma. The choices he makes are all in the service of producing a wine that honestly reflects the land and climate of this serene and gorgeous location while contributing to the regeneration and long term health of the land and in turn the people that work and live on it.