Frog's Leap Winery

Frog's Leap was founded in 1981 by John Williams, his then-wife Julie (nee Johnson) Williams, and Larry Turley, producing 450 cases of Sauvignon Blanc and 350 cases of Zinfandel in the first vintage. The Sauvignon Blanc had been planted in 1978 on Turley's property, known as the Frog Farm because it had operated as a commercial frog farm in the late 1800s, which partly inspired the winery's name. Williams, who attended Cornell University on a scholarship, arrived in Napa Valley in 1975 after graduating; Larry Turley, the brother of a college friend, introduced him to Warren Winiarski, who had recently established Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, and Williams became the winery's only employee at the time. He helped bottle the 1973 Stag's Leap Cabernet Sauvignon that went on to beat numerous prestigious French entries at the Paris Tasting, and was the only person at the winery available to sell the wine when the news broke. Williams completed his Masters in Viticulture and Enology at U.C. Davis in 1977, later became head winemaker at Spring Mountain, and was able to leave that job in 1984 to focus on Frog's Leap full time. The winery's premier release was bolstered by a story in The New York Times written by wine journalist Terry Robards.

• Founded 1981 by John Williams, Julie (nee Johnson) Williams, and Larry Turley; first vintage was 450 cases of Sauvignon Blanc and 350 cases of Zinfandel
• Named for a former commercial frog farm on Larry Turley's property, where the first Sauvignon Blanc was planted in 1978
• John Williams helped bottle the 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon that beat French entries at the Paris Tasting
• Williams completed his Masters in Viticulture and Enology at U.C. Davis in 1977 and left his head winemaker job at Spring Mountain in 1984 to focus on Frog's Leap full time

Larry Turley left the partnership in 1994 to found Turley Wines, after which John and Julie Williams continued running Frog's Leap together. John and Julie (Johnson) Williams divorced in 1999; Julie went on to found Tres Sabores Winery. John married Tori in the spring of 2010. Today John Williams serves as Founder and Winemaker and as President and CEO. His son Rory Williams, born in 1984, joined the farming team in 2012 as Vineyard Coordinator under longtime vineyardist Frank Leeds and was named Managing Director of Viticulture and Winemaking in 2021, per the winery's own team pages; a San Francisco Chronicle profile published in August 2025 refers to his title as vice president of viticulture and enology. Before returning fully to Frog's Leap, Rory launched his own label, Calder Wines, to explore older Napa Valley plantings of Valdiguie, Charbono and Riesling; he retired the Calder label after the 2019 vintage and has since folded those varieties into the Frog's Leap lineup. Pablo Polanco serves as Winemaker alongside the Williams family, joined in the cellar by his daughter, Assistant Winemaker Xochilt Polanco. Tori Williams serves as Managing Director of Brand and Customer Experience.

• Larry Turley left the partnership in 1994 to found Turley Wines; John and Julie Williams continued running Frog's Leap together until their 1999 divorce
• Rory Williams (born 1984) joined the farming team in 2012 and was named Managing Director of Viticulture and Winemaking in 2021 (site); a 2025 SF Chronicle profile calls his title vice president of viticulture and enology
• Rory Williams ran his own label, Calder Wines, until retiring it after the 2019 vintage, then folded varieties like Valdiguie and Charbono into Frog's Leap
• Pablo Polanco serves as Winemaker; his daughter Xochilt Polanco serves as Assistant Winemaker

Frog's Leap farms 180 acres of vineyards, more than three-quarters of it in Rutherford. John Williams purchased his first vineyard, 35 acres in Rutherford, in 1987. The family purchased the historic Red Barn property in Rutherford in 1994, the same year the Rutherford AVA was formally recognized as an American Viticultural Area; the estate today includes the Red Barn Ranch and Williams Rossi Ranch, along with the Galleron Ranch and Chavez-Leeds Vineyard. The Red Barn itself dates to the Adamson Winery, founded by Christian P. Adamson, which made wine on the site from 1884 until phylloxera destroyed its vineyards in 1896. Gravelly benchland soils there host the winery's Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, while clay, silt and deep river soils support Sauvignon Blanc and limited plantings of Merlot, grown at the estate since 1990. The Rossi family planted grapes on their 50-acre Rutherford property in the early 20th century and farmed it continuously, including through Prohibition; Frog's Leap began purchasing its fruit in 1996 and arranged to farm the vineyard for the family, then bought the property outright in 2007 after the death of longtime owner Louise Rossi. The Williams family placed Rossi Ranch under a conservation easement with the Land Trust of Napa County in the spring of 2011; it is the source of the Williams Rossi Cabernet Sauvignon, first released from the 2018 vintage in 2020. A few miles north in St. Helena, the White Barn and Molinari vineyards are the source of Frog's Leap Zinfandel, whose estate vines average 50 years old. In Carneros, Frog's Leap has worked exclusively with the Truchard Vineyard for Chardonnay since its first vintage of the variety in 1985. All estate vineyards are farmed organically and without irrigation.

• Frog's Leap farms 180 acres of vineyards, more than three-quarters of it in Rutherford, including the Red Barn Ranch, Williams Rossi Ranch, Galleron Ranch and Chavez-Leeds Vineyard
• The Red Barn dates to the Adamson Winery (1884-1896), founded by Christian P. Adamson, until phylloxera destroyed its vineyards
• Rossi Ranch (50 acres) was farmed for the Rossi family from 1996 before Frog's Leap bought it outright in 2007 after owner Louise Rossi's death; placed under a conservation easement in spring 2011
• Zinfandel comes from the White Barn and Molinari vineyards in St. Helena, where estate vines average 50 years old
• Chardonnay has been sourced exclusively from the Truchard Vineyard in Carneros since Frog's Leap's first vintage of the variety in 1985

Frog's Leap became the first winery in Napa Valley to receive organic certification for its vineyards through California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) in 1989. All estate vineyards are dry-farmed, relying on rainfall and regular tillage rather than irrigation; the winery notes that all Napa Valley wine grapes were dry-farmed before irrigation was introduced in the late 1970s. Frog's Leap earned organic certification for its crops and livestock in 2002 with help from consultant Amigo Bob Cantisano, and hosted the first organic growers conference in the Napa Valley that year. In the cellar the winery favors natural yeast fermentations, minimal use of sulfur dioxide, restricted fining and filtration, no supplemental additions, and oak used for elevage rather than as a flavoring agent. Rory Williams has expanded the winery's use of concrete vessels, which provide oxygen exchange similar to an oak barrel without imparting oak flavor; a concrete-egg-aged Sauvignon Blanc proved distinctive enough that it was rolled out as its own, unfiltered bottling. Frog's Leap was certified Napa Green in 2004 and went solar the same year; in 2005 it broke ground on the Vineyard House, envisioned as the first LEED-certified winery building in California. In spring 2025 the winery received Silver Certification from the International Wineries for Climate Action, and in fall 2025 it earned Silver Certification with TRUE Zero Waste.

• First winery in Napa Valley to receive CCOF organic certification for its vineyards, in 1989; organic certification for crops and livestock followed in 2002
• All estate vineyards are dry-farmed, relying on rainfall and tillage rather than irrigation
• Natural yeast fermentations, minimal sulfur dioxide, and oak used for elevage rather than as a flavoring agent; expanding use of concrete vessels including a separate concrete-egg-aged Sauvignon Blanc bottling
• Napa Green certified since 2004; IWCA Silver Certification (spring 2025) and TRUE Zero Waste Silver Certification (fall 2025)

Frog's Leap has produced a Sauvignon Blanc every year since its 1981 founding, a fixture of the lineup even as the Rutherford Bench built its reputation, since the era of Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards, for world-class Cabernet Sauvignon. Its own Cabernet draws on Rutherford Dust, the earthy, cocoa-powdered character of the Rutherford Bench's gravelly benchland soils, a term the winery attributes to André Tchelistcheff. Two generations of the Williams family now share winemaking and viticulture duties, with John Williams still overseeing the winemaking program alongside Rory Williams. In the fall of 2023, midway through harvest, Frog's Leap introduced Flycatcher, a $30 California-appellation red blend bottled in lightweight glass with no capsule and a label designed to release in water; it draws Zinfandel from Lodi, Merlot from Mendocino, Petite Sirah from Yorkville and Tempranillo from the Sierra foothills, deliberately sourced outside Napa.

• Sauvignon Blanc has been produced every year since Frog's Leap's 1981 founding
• Rutherford Dust, the term for the Rutherford Bench's earthy, cocoa-powdered character, is attributed by the winery to André Tchelistcheff
• Two generations of the Williams family, John and Rory, share winemaking and viticulture duties
• Flycatcher, a $30 California-appellation red blend launched fall 2023, sources fruit from outside Napa: Zinfandel (Lodi), Merlot (Mendocino), Petite Sirah (Yorkville) and Tempranillo (Sierra foothills)

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.frogsleap.com/, https://www.frogsleap.com/our-history/, https://www.frogsleap.com/our-team/, https://www.frogsleap.com/vineyard/, https://www.frogsleap.com/we-grow-it/, https://www.frogsleap.com/thinking-like-a-vine/, https://www.frogsleap.com/the-wines-of-frogs-leap/, https://www.frogsleap.com/the-wines-of-frogs-leap/cabernet-sauvignon/, https://www.frogsleap.com/the-wines-of-frogs-leap/chardonnay/, https://www.frogsleap.com/the-wines-of-frogs-leap/merlot/, https://www.frogsleap.com/the-wines-of-frogs-leap/sauvignon-blanc/, https://www.frogsleap.com/the-wines-of-frogs-leap/zinfandel/, https://www.frogsleap.com/our-team-rorys-bio/, https://www.frogsleap.com/johns-bio/. Secondary sources: The Napa Wine Project, San Francisco Chronicle (Esther Mobley, August 14, 2025). Last verified 2026-09-08. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs. Spot something off? Submit a correction: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdM0MsYoQFCpXb4qbSPVM2TBRuC2624pOhrffs7IGhpfGCCQA/viewform