(((Around the Bonfire)))

Since 2011, we’ve had a vision of making GREAT wine from our little home ranch, 4 acre Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Vineyard — we have what most would consider “Old Vine Pinot Noir” — our vines were planted almost 30 years ago, which for RRV Triple 7 Pinot, is pretty old! We began years back making "garage wine” with the family, employing the labor of our “squids” to gently stomp the clusters after attracting the effort and skillset (term used lightly, ha) of our family — siblings, parents, uncles, aunts and close friends were somehow inspired to show up and harvest year after year.

We eventually plateaued; it was time to elevate our game and we started throwing around the idea of creating the brand and in 2021, WEST of ONE was officially born. Quickly and as a reference, WEST of ONE is where Mandy & Nick met, it’s where they got married and it’s where they love to escape — in person and in their hearts & souls.

In 2022, we saw the smallest yields our vineyard had seen (the ongoing drought, dry winter and shatter caused by stormy weather in the spring), but for some reason we decided it was a good year to invest, to elevate our game, to officially launch WEST of ONE. Mandy peeled off almost 2 tons of fruit from our favorite section of the Vineyard, we found the best winemaker (legendary Luke Stanko) to partner with and off we went. We also unofficially relied on texts and calls with our local winemaking friends. We utilized Luke’s keen sense and instincts and our historical knowledge of the property and the fruit to determine when to pick and how to handle and inspire the wine to become the best reflection of itself — let’s just say, we love some BIG wines, we even like some BIG Pinot’s, but we really prefer elegance — we appreciate the brightness, the pretty aromatics, balanced acidity and freshness that Russian River Valley Pinot Noir can produce. What we didn’t expect was the mid-palate weight that Luke was able to coax or seduce to really make this a perfect representation of Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.

We used 100% French Oak and went slightly lighter on the NEW barrels this year (25%) given the style of the vintage and earlier harvest dates; the decision paid off. The elegant aromas are accentuated by a perfect mid-palate structure that seems to demand an immediate second sip.

This wine should put a smile on your face and remind you of great times, accentuate the celebration you’re having and keep you looking to go coastal!

For those interested in a longer story, here’s “more to the story”: Neeks and Fish are 4th generation California Grapegrowers and “Winemakers”. Their Great, Great Grandparents owned and developed a world-class and world-famous vineyard on the top of Spring Mountain in Napa, just over the hill from where they are today. Grape growing and Winemaking is in their blood, innovation is in their spirit, and they are artists, creators and entrepreneurs at heart. They were both actively and vocally involved in all aspects of design from glass/bottle choice, logo design, cork quality and layout and web design, to middle of the night harvests, weekend trips to the winery and involvement on bottling days, this is a Keresey FAMILY Affair!

As Californians we all love the coast, we all love exploring the natural beauty, fresh air and cool coastal days — as Californians we love searching for polished Urchin Shells, getting tickled by an Anemone, harvesting Dungies, Lings & Kings and simply walking on a pier and enjoying some Monterey Bay Calamari, Fish Tacos or Halibut Fish & Chips. We all love the coast, we all could use more of it — WEST of ONE is an homage to California’s amazing Coast and a representation of the “Smile in your Eyes” — you have it, we see it — we created WEST of ONE to inspire or enhance that WEST of ONE feeling — let’s go!!!