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Navillus Birney Ranch - les Joies de la Famille
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As you may remember, when our small winery was started in the fall of 1998, we gave considerable thought to what to name it. Using our public relations backgrounds, we brainstormed all of the things associated with our vineyards - our beautiful oak trees, our spectacular knoll atop Sonoma Mountain. Perhaps getting rusty in the old business, all of our attempts at a clever name fell short. We thought most sounded like retirement homes : Oak Knoll? Vista View?
In the end, we decided just to stick with our names and Sullivan Birney Winery was born. We thought it was rather unique at the time - certainly not a name anyone else would put on a label. Well, not quite. Shortly after our first bottling, we began to hear about the Sullivan Vineyards of Napa, a winery that has been making fine wines for over 20 years. As our wines started to become better known, through competitions, reviews and word of mouth, we started to experience some confusion in the marketplace -- a confusion we knew would only increase as our wines gained further recognition art institute of Atlanta.
So, we're changing our name. Not too much. The letters remain the same. We're just spelling "Sullivan" backwards as in Navillus. Navillus Birney Winery and Vineyards.
We've just bottled our 2003 Navillus Birney wines - Sonoma Mountain Pinot Noir, Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay, Sonoma Mountain Syrah, Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, all of which we'll release in January. In the meantime, we will continue to sell what remains of our 2001 and 2002 Sullivan Birney wines directly, through our website (lesJoiesdelaFamille.com) and in the Tasting Room (online accounting degree).
Now to back things up a bit, Sullivan Birney Winery - now Navillus Birney Winery and Vineyards was founded in 1998 with our purchase of 23 acres on a stunning knoll on Sonoma Mountain near the small village of Glen Ellen, California. The previous owners had bred Arabian horses on the property for 16 years.
In 1999 we planted six acres of Pinot Noir ("The Katherine Vineyard" named for Rick's daughter and Jonelle's Mother) and five acres of Chardonnay on the gentle slopes around the knoll. That same year we took possession of 50 acres in the Sonoma Coast appellation, where we also planted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay - dental hygienist colleges.
In 2001 we completed construction on our winery, which is attached to our home on the Sonoma Mountain Road property and experienced our first harvest that August. In September of 2002 we bottled our first vintage wines - 272 cases of the Sonoma Mountain Katherine Vineyard Pinot Noir; 52 cases of
Pinot Noir Carneros; 169 cases of
Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay and 256 cases of
Chardonnay Carneros made from grapes from Artesa Vineyards. |
In 2000 we purchased a historic building in the heart of Glen Ellen.
This building became home to the Navillus Birney Winery and Vineyards Tasting
Room on July 1, 2003. The property, known as Glen Ellen Square, also includes
the popular Garden Court Cafİ (www.gardencourtcafe.com) and features an expansive historic exhibit devoted to Glen Ellen's rich history. Included are numerous photographs and memorabilia of famed Glen Ellen authors Jack London and M.F.K. Fisher. The building also includes a small Glen Ellen Community Room, decorated with period antiques, which can be used for special events (accredited online colleges).
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