Our Story

On an eastern slope of the northern sierras, just above the American River Gorge, Champion racecar driver Scott Pruett and his wife, Judy, decided to turn their dream of becoming winemakers into reality.

Although new to the world of winemaking, they wanted to create special, exciting, small lot, hand crafted, premium wines which would be true to their fruit and could be enjoyed by wine lovers everywhere in the company of good friends.

“We’re family owned and operated, steeped in tradition-- from berry to bottle, combining art + science + passion = excellence.”

Unlike the fast paced world of racing, there is nothing rushed about this endeavor.

Each grape cluster ripens slowly, and the wine itself ages in the finest French oak barrels under the watchful eyes of the winemakers. The results of such patience are wines that are lush, complex, and delightful to the palette. While we gather family and friends to enjoy the fruits of our labor of love, we hope you will do the same.

Cheers!

The Vineyards

We knew we had a very special piece of land on the hilltop overlooking the north fork of the American River. To be sure we had the perfect place for planting vines, and which vines to choose, we conducted an extensive soil and climate study. Utilizing scientific data along with the expertise of the renowned vineyard consultant, Tom Prentice, it was determined we had the perfect terroir for Rhone varietals.

We did all the work ourselves from clearing the land, prepping the soil and putting in the infrastructures to planting the grapes. Our vineyard management is of top priority as we adapt and make changes in order to provide the best of everything the grapes need. As Scott says, “You can’t make good wine out of bad fruit.”

All of our estate wines are named after either our children, Judy or Scott’s Championships: Lucky Lauren Red (Syrah/Cab blend) for our daughter Lauren, Taylor’s Reserve (Syrah) for our daughter Taylor, CSP (Syrah) for our son Cameron, Judy Marie (Estate Cabernet) for Judy and Championship Cuvee (Syrah) honoring Scott’s many Championships.

After all, it is a family affair!

Berry to Bottle

Harvest typically comes around early to mid September. Because of the warmer temperatures during the day, we begin harvest at night when it’s cooler. A small crew comes in to hand pick the grapes, while some experienced family and friends help man the crush. After crush we’re off and running, tending to our wine babies, guiding them through the process of cold soak-fermentation-pressing-barrel.

We use the highest quality French Oak barrels from various Cooperage houses and different forests throughout France. Continually fine tuning all of these elements to bring out the true expression and terroir of the wines we produce. There the wine will develop and mature for approximately 22 months.

When the wine is ready to bottle we bring in a small semi-automatic mobile bottling unit, where we hand move and assemble all the cases. After an appropriate amount of time for the wine to relax and adjust to it’s new living quarters we’re ready to send it off for you to enjoy!

We hope this labor of love comes through in every bottle and every moment shared.