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Dan and Raghni.
Raghni Naidu of Naidu Wines is back as our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. She was on CWC once before, on this episode of August 25, 2021, with Harry Duke sitting in for Steve Jaxon that day.
Her story begins in India where she was born and raised. Her mother was always searching for interesting flavors in the kitchen and brought Raghni up to appreciate fine flavors. When she travelled overseas, she brought back recipe books and seeds that she planted in their kitchen garden. She moved to Melbourne, Australia to attend university. She already had some family in that city and her father was doing some business there. There she learned of many wonderful cuisines and she also met her husband there. They married and moved to the Bay Area in 2006 where she and her husband enjoyed the local food and wine culture.
After a vacation in Provence, they started searching for a place to start the winery. She purchased the vineyard in 2018 and began making wine and offering hospitality in the large house on the property. She feels a sense of responsibility to focus on the highest quality of production.
Dan Berger and Steve Jaxon both notice the excellent quality in the 2022 Chardonnay that they are tasting. Dan notices the great acidity “the secret weapon of all these good wines” and the lower alcohol, having been perfectly harvested.
Pinot Noir: It’s the Loir!
They had Pinot Noir on the property when they purchased it, but they also have begun making other varietals. (Steve reminds us that by law, if you’re growing grapes in Sonoma County you must make Pinot Noir.) They have done Viognier, Grenache Blanc and Cabernet Franc. Dan appreciates the structure and balance in these wines.
They work with winemaker Matt Duffy who shares their convictions about making wines of the highest quality. Dan remembers someone saying that they best fertilizer for a vineyard is the footprints of the winemaker on the soil. Matt Duffy knows the vines and the ups and downs of the soil. Once the wine is in the house, half the work has already been done. There is no conflict between growing and production when the same winemaker is working on both aspects. It is Raghni’s leadership that holds it all together, from the vineyard through production and all the way down to other issues like bottles and labels.
The Naidu Wines House
The house on the Naidu Wines property is a beautiful family home with four bedrooms and luxurious decor. It is available
Guests who book a stay at the estate may enjoy the vineyard environment with a unique opportunity to get personal with the wines by experiencing the terroir directly. It is a fully remodeled home equipped with modern furnishings & contemporary fixtures, located on a knoll in the tranquil rolling hills of Sonoma Coast, with stunning vistas all around at all times of day.