Doug Stewart’s Anderson Valley wineries produce some of the Mendocino appellation’s most exciting wines.
Sharing a similarly sophisticated winemaking sensibility but not the same grape sources or tasting rooms, Doug Stewart’s Breggo Cellars in Philo and Lichen Estate in Boonville (almost to Philo) produce some of Anderson Valley’s most exciting wines.
A converted apple-drying barn occupied until recently by Phillips Hill Winery serves as Breggo’s tasting room. Following a respectful makeover, the space has a lighter, brighter feel – partly courtesy of dangerously white furniture for a place pouring reds. Some tastings take place in a creekside nook under the main space. During an early-spring visit to sample 2022s, a Gewürztraminer and Chardonnays from the Ferrington and Savoy vineyards stood out, along with a seductive Anderson Valley Pinot Noir with sterling fruit and fleeting earthiness.
Stewart founded Breggo – the name means “sheep” in the local Boonville dialect – in 2005 and began planting a vineyard in 2008. During the era’s economic downturn, he sold the brand but not the land, now Lichen’s estate vineyard. In 2023, Stewart leaped at the chance to repurchase the Breggo name, in the process reacquiring some of the older vintages.
Lichen Estate, with tightly spaced vines à la Burgundy, focuses on Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir in sparkling and still wines noteworthy for their tension, elegance, and freshness on the palate. The estate Pinot Gris and Blanc de Gris were two favorites among the whites. I also found the 2017 Grand Cuvée Rosé, a 100% Pinot Noir sparkler, and the 2021 Estate Pinot captivating. The tannic, complex Solera Pinot Noir, Volume 10, has no date because it incorporates wine from every vintage since 2011.
Why go: exciting wines; Breggo Chardonnays and Anderson Valley Pinot; Lichen Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir (sparkling and still).
Info
Breggo Cellars, 5101 Hwy. 128, Philo
Lichen Estate, 11001 County Rd. 151, at Hwy. 128, Boonville
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