The range of wines available at Westwood
For his entire life, businessman Carl Stanton, the owner of Westwood Estate Wine, had sought the undiscovered. When he set his sights on finding a piece of untamed earth among prime vineyard land in northern California wine country, it didn’t take him long to hit pay dirt.
A 33-acre plot of land in Sonoma Valley, east of Santa Rosa near Trione-Annadel State Park, is surrounded by the Mayacamas Mountains to the east and within plain sight of a gap in Sonoma Mountain to the west. With partner John Kelly, Stanton snapped it up and established the Annadel Gap Vineyard in 2000.
Saturated in fog most mornings while receiving a cooling breeze in the afternoons, the transverse positioning of the site and its cool climate suggested Pinot Noir and Rhône varieties could thrive. Stanton and Kelly planted multiple clones of Pinot Noir and seven different Rhone varietals to determine what could flourish best in the combination of silt loam, clay and volcanic soils.
The morning fog and the cooling afternoon breezes at Annadel Gap vineyards, as well as the transverse positioning of the site suggested Pinot Noir and Rhône varieties could thrive.
How did the name Westwood come about?
Carl Stanton (CS): We discovered a large black oak tree at the far western end of the vineyard and decided to name our wine ‘Westwood’ in homage. We first made Westwood wine at a
