Durell Vineyard and Sand Hill Wines

Sand Hill Wines at Durell Vineyard is a creative collaboration among Durell Vineyard owner Ellie Phipps Price, legendary vineyard manager Steve Hill and former Chateau St. Jean winemaker Don Van Staaveren, and captures the best of what many consider Sonoma County’s finest vineyard. The name Sand Hill is an homage to the 400-acre Sand Hill Ranch that encompasses Durell Vineyard. The ranch, in turn, is named for a far northern section of the property whose undulating curves and white, sandy soils resemble a sandbar.

Ellie Phipps Price and her former husband, Bill Price, purchased Sand Hill/Durell in 1998 from founder Ed Durell. Durell, a San Francisco food broker, had acquired the land in 1977 with the intent of turning it into a cattle ranch – southern Sonoma Valley had long been devoted to cattle ranches and dairy farms – but in 1979 began planting grapes instead. In 1980, after Durell hired Steve Hill to manage the ranch, the pair decided to focus exclusively on grapes, which they began selling to Sonoma County wineries in 1982.

Steve Hill, one of California’s most respected viticulturists, bootstrapped his early vine education, experimenting over the years with a variety of rootstocks and clones for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. Indeed, Durell was the first Sonoma Valley grower to use the Syrah variety designation on a wine bottle when both Kendall-Jackson and Edmunds St. John labeled a Durell vineyard Syrah in 1985. More than two-dozen other top wineries have since followed suit.

Ask Steve Hill what makes Durell Vineyard special and he immediately mentions its cross-appellation location and cool, Region 2 climate. Because Durell is north of the Carneros district proper – and thus further removed from maritime influences of San Pablo Bay – it is not as chilly or fog-bound as many Carneros vineyards, but still enjoys an ideal, cool-climate environment for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The vineyard’s sloping hills, rocky clay loam soils and low-vigor vines help keep yields low – three tons per acre on average – while its clonal diversity ensures great complexity in the Sand Hill wines.

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