TZABACO RANCHO VINEYARDS is located in the heart of the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County and has been continuously farmed by family members since 1856. Sixth generation son Tom Schmidt and wife Audrey Schmidt, with guidance from fifth generation father Brian Schmidt and award winning winemaker mother Janice Schmidt, shares their vision of proudly producing premium wine grapes in beautiful Dry Creek Valley using sustainable winegrowing practices that will allow our family to continue farming for generations. The vineyard is planted to multiple white and red varietal winegrape clones that make wonderful, award winning single varietal or meritage white and red wines. We sell to a number of major wineries and an enthusiastic clientele of home winemakers.
Whether you are a new to winemaking or a veteran winemaker, our grapes will provide a solid foundation for your wines. Enology advice is available from Janice Schmidt, a UC Davis trained winemaker, who worked for Jordan Vineyard and Winery for 20 years before retiring to help guide replanting in the vineyard. She takes pride in guiding home winemakers in the rewarding process of making wine while making award winning wine herself for the ESTATE 1856 brand.
We welcome you to enjoy the amenities that Healdsburg has to offer…world class hotels, restaurants and wineries. We are so fortunate to live here…in this beautiful small valley surrounded by incredible vineyards and wineries!!
GROWER OF THE 2013 SONOMA COUNTY HARVEST FAIR RED SWEEPSTAKES WINE –
ESTATE 1856 2010 BORDEAUX BLEND
GROWER OF THE 2015 PRESS DEMOCRAT NORTH COAST CHALLENGE BEST OF CLASS & 96 POINT CABERNET $20-$40
JUST NAMED A TOP 100 WINE IN SONOMA COUNTY BY SONOMA MAGAZINE IN THEIR NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 ISSUE! –
ESTATE 1856 2012 CABERNET SAUVIGNON
GROWER OF THE 2016 PRESS DEMOCRAT NORTH COAST CHALLENGE BEST OF CLASS & 95 POINT MALBEC
NAMED A TOP 100 WINE IN SONOMA COUNTY BY SONOMA MAGAZINE IN THEIR NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 ISSUE! –
ESTATE 1856 2013 MALBEC
GROWER OF THE 2017 PRESS DEMOCRAT NORTH COAST CHALLENGE BEST OF CLASS & 95 POINT MALBEC
NAMED A TOP 100 WINE IN SONOMA COUNTY BY SONOMA MAGAZINE IN THEIR NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 ISSUE! –
ESTATE 1856 2014 MALBEC
A VIDEO BY RODNEY STRONG VINEYARDS SHOWCASING THE VINEYARD!
| We are proud growers for Rodney Strong Vineyards and were so delighted when they asked if they could film Brian & I in the Spring of 2014 as representative growers from Dry Creek Valley.
We spent a day with their filming crew focusing on the early Spring vineyard growth highlighted by the soft light in the morning and lingering light at sunset. We focused on our Vertical Shoot Position trellis system which allows the leaf canopy to be uniformly upright for maximum leaf photosynthetic activity and also talked about the importance of morning side leaf removal for great flavor development. It was fun and exciting to participate in the filming process with such a professional crew. We think that they captured this Spring moment exceedingly well and are very happy to share this with you! |
TESTIMONIAL
“We bought Malbec and Petit Verdot grapes from Tzabaco Rancho Vineyards from 2008 through 2014 and were very happy with the quality of the fruit as well as with the farming skills of Janice and Brian Schmidt. Our 2011 Malbec from this vineyard was rated 92 points by the Wine Enthusiast and we have always considered the Petit Verdot we produced from this vineyard one of our best and favorite wines each year.
Janice has always been very reliable in her brix and pH readings and in keeping us informed as to which rows are at varying degrees of ripeness. They have also been very good at picking on the harvest dates that we requested.
The only reason we have discontinued buying their fruit is that we lost our tasting room lease last August and need to scale back our varietal offerings. I highly recommend their grapes to anyone seeking high quality fruit from honest and trustworthy growers. Peter Spann”
We work hard providing great fruit to all our wineries and homewinemakers!!
HARVEST 2022 FOR HOMEWINEMAKERS
Harvest 2022 will be here before you know it…and we need to start conversations about the varietals and quantities you want this year. So if you haven’t yet talked to us about the varietal you wish to purchase…please email trv@sonic.net so that we can get you on the lists! Please call 707-433-2511 if you have any questions about availability!!
We are so happy to have youngest son Tom take over the farming operations in 2022! Brian and I are looking forward to retirement and slowing down a bit…but we will be available to give Tom any help he needs as he takes over the management of the vineyard over for the family!!
WHITE VARIETIES:
- Sauvignon blanc – small amounts available in 2022
- Sauvignon musque – small amounts available in 2022
- Viognier – small amounts available in 2022
RED VARIETIES:
- Cabernet sauvignon – available in 2022
- Merlot – available in 2022
- Malbec – available in 2022
- Petit verdot – small amounts available in 2022 (same clone – new plantings)
- Zinfandel – available in 2022