Barricia

Description: In 1978, Barbara Olesen and Patricia Herron bought a 36-acre vineyard in the heart of Sonoma Valley— a piece of property that General Mariano Vallejo had traded to his children’s music teacher in exchange for piano lessons in the 1840s. Barbara and Patricia christened the vineyard with a combination of their own first names, calling this piece of land Barricia. Neither knew anything about grapegrowing, but Pat learned how to drive a tractor, prune the vines, and check the leaves for virus. Before long, the blackberry and pepper-spiced wine made from their 100-year old vines was singled out by a string of well-known Sonoma wineries, finally settling at Ravenswood for its emblematic Sonoma Valley Zinfandel.