Arista Winery

A family that switched from Cabernet to Pinot

Al and Janice McWilliams founded the Arista Winery in 2002. For many years, the family primarily grew Cabernet, but after graduating from college, Janice spent some time in Burgundy and discovered the charms of Pinot Noir. Over time, this interest became the very essence of the winery. In 2004, they purchased a 14.5-hectare plot along Westside Road near Healdsburg. This plot is located between two wineries in the Russian River Valley, “Williams Selyem” and “Rochioli.” In collaboration with vineyard manager Ulises Valdez, they planted their own vineyards in 2006. In 2012, Al and Janice handed the business over to their sons, Mark and Ben McWilliams. The brothers grew up near the winery and took over management when Al retired at the end of that vintage season. Their first major move was hiring Matt Courtney in early 2013. Courtney had worked as a winemaker at Marcassin for 10 years and brought along his assistant, Gordon Miller, and cellar master Cory Stewart. It is this team that continues to run the winery to this day.

A short list, on purpose

When Mark and Ben took over the company, one of the first decisions they made was not to increase, but to reduce the number of partner growers. They narrowed the list, focusing on the best regions to ensure more careful control over grape-growing practices. This philosophy continues to shape the company’s vineyard portfolio to this day.

At the core of the portfolio are the company’s own 14.5-hectare vineyards, stretching along Westside Road. In addition, Arista sources grapes from carefully selected specific regions:

• U.V. Lucky Well Vineyard and U.V. El Diablo (both vineyards are cultivated by the Bacigalupi family)
• The Ritchie Vineyard (planted by Kent Ritchie, who still cultivates it himself)
• Banfield Vineyard in Green Valley (owned by Mark and Kim Dempster)
• Ferrington Vineyard in Anderson Valley
• Perli Vineyard in Mendocino County

All of the vineyards, with the exception of Ferrington and Perli, are located in Sonoma County, and most of them are situated in the Russian River Valley. These are the vineyards that other winemakers speak of with a certain reverential awe. Consistently sourcing grapes from all of these vineyards is by no means an easy task.

Why the Russian River Valley works for these grapes

The Russian River Valley is known for its cool climate. Almost every night, fog rolling in from the Pacific Ocean over the Petaluma Pass envelops the vineyards until mid-morning, after which the sky clears. It is precisely thanks to this prolonged and gradual rise in temperature that Pinot Noir and Chardonnay ripen on the vine without losing their acidity, which is the essence of the flavor Arista Winery strives to achieve.

Mark McWilliams says that acidity is always the top priority in their winemaking. This approach is also reflected in their choice of vineyards. Green Valley, where Banfield is located, is one of the relatively cooler subregions of this area. Anderson Valley, situated even further north, is even cooler. At each of these vineyards, the same two grape varieties produce wines with slightly different characteristics, and Arista bottles them separately to highlight these differences.

Let the grapes decide

Matt Courtney’s winemaking philosophy at Arista is that “fruit comes first.” He avoids excessive processing and does not attempt to forcibly alter the grapes’ natural characteristics. The winery’s style emphasizes preserving high acidity and clearly expressing the individual character of each vineyard. Therefore, wine from each vineyard is produced in small batches, and each batch is monitored separately at every stage, from fermentation to aging. In particular, the Chardonnay is often compared to wines from Meursault and is distinguished by flavor nuances reminiscent of hazelnuts and lemon zest, which critics have repeatedly highlighted. At a retrospective tasting dedicated to the winery’s 10th anniversary and held in the second half of 2024, it was demonstrated that early vintages of Courtney's Chardonnay still possess a powerful character and still have the potential to age for several more years. The Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the Russian River Valley, which are appellation-level wines, are not simply “leftovers” but are blended intentionally. Blending batches from multiple plots allows for a complexity of flavor.

The range, and what we stock

"Arista" has its focus on wines made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. Such specialization is rare even for this region, which relies heavily on these two grape varieties. Starting with the 2021 vintage, we offer the following wines: - "Russian River Valley" Chardonnay (appellation blend) - "Ritchie Vineyard" Chardonnay - Chardonnay "Banfield Ranch" - Chardonnay "UV-El Diablo" (single vineyard) - "Russian River Valley" Pinot Noir (appellation blend) - “Kanzler” Pinot Noir (vineyard) - Pinot Noir (UV-Lucky Well Vineyard) In addition to the wines featured in our selection, Arista bottles Pinot Noir from the Ferrington Vineyard in the Anderson Valley and also partners with Perli Vineyard in Mendocino County.