Hundred Acre

Hundred Acre was founded in 2000 when Canadian-born former investment banker Jayson Woodbridge acquired the Howell Mountain property then called Kayli Morgan vineyard, named for Kayli, the daughter of his former business partner Kevin Fortun, and Morgan, his own daughter; he renamed it Morgan's Way starting with the 2019 vintage, for his daughter Morgan, after buying out the partner. The first vintage, the 2000 Kayli Morgan Cabernet, was made with assistance from winemaker Philippe Melka, and Woodbridge assumed sole winemaking responsibility from 2002 onward. Production moved to The Ring, a purpose-built underground cave winery beneath Ark Vineyard at the base of Howell Mountain, in 2005. Early success allowed Woodbridge to expand the estate and build out a broader Hundred Acre Wine Group that has since included companion labels Fortunate Son and Summer Dreams. Accessible brands Layer Cake, Cherry Pie, and If You See Kay were sold to Vintage Wine Estates in earlier deals.

• Founded 2000 on the Kayli Morgan vineyard (renamed Morgan's Way from the 2019 vintage); the site sits north of St. Helena on the eastern side of Silverado Trail at the base of Howell Mountain
• Philippe Melka consulted on the inaugural 2000 vintage; Woodbridge became sole winemaker from 2002
• The Ring underground winery beneath Ark Vineyard became operational in 2005
• Accessible labels Layer Cake, Cherry Pie, and If You See Kay were sold to Vintage Wine Estates; the Hundred Acre Wine Group today includes Hundred Acre, Fortunate Son, and Summer Dreams

Hundred Acre is owned by Jayson Woodbridge and his wife Helen, who is involved in the broader Hundred Acre Wine Group's operations. Son Cameron is involved in the family business as the estate has grown beyond its original three-vineyard core. The original vineyard, Kayli Morgan (now Morgan's Way), drew its name from Kayli, the daughter of Woodbridge's former business partner Kevin Fortun, and from Morgan, Woodbridge's own daughter, for whom the renamed Morgan's Way is titled. The cellar team has expanded alongside the property additions of 2024, and the winery has continued to publicly position itself as family-run with a long-horizon outlook on quality and succession.

• Owned by Jayson and Helen Woodbridge; the original Kayli Morgan vineyard was named for Kayli, the daughter of former business partner Kevin Fortun, and Morgan, Woodbridge's own daughter, and is now bottled as Morgan's Way from the 2019 vintage forward
• Hundred Acre Wine Group encompasses Hundred Acre, Fortunate Son, and Summer Dreams; Woodbridge remains sole winemaker for the Hundred Acre label
• Cellar team has expanded alongside the 2024 acquisitions of Madrigal and Kelly Fleming
• Winery positions itself publicly as family-run with long-horizon succession planning

The core Hundred Acre estate is built on three single-vineyard sites across three different Napa subzones. Morgan's Way (formerly Kayli Morgan) sits at the base of Howell Mountain on the eastern side of Silverado Trail, planted to roughly 3.6 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon on chocolatey clay soils; the vineyard is the origin of the project and remains the namesake bottling of the founding wine. Ark Vineyard is located on the steep southeast-facing slopes of Glass Mountain at the base of Howell Mountain just outside St. Helena, with roughly 4.8 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon planted across the larger 18-hectare property; the vineyard is distinguished by black obsidian volcanic glass scattered across its surface and is the site of The Ring cave winery. Few and Far Between covers around 2 hectares in Calistoga surrounding the Woodbridge home, sharing a fence line with the legendary Eisele Vineyard; the vineyard is planted predominantly to Cabernet Sauvignon with a small Cabernet Franc home block. Acquisitions through 2020 to 2024 dramatically expanded the footprint: the historic David Fulton property in St. Helena (2020), an 1870s-era Larkmead Lane vineyard renamed True Romance (2022), Madrigal Winery in Calistoga (July 2024), and the Kelly Fleming Winery estate in Simmons Canyon (August 2024), the last of which is now operated as Hundred Acre Private Road.

• Morgan's Way (formerly Kayli Morgan): roughly 3.6 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon on the eastern side of Silverado Trail at the base of Howell Mountain, on chocolatey clay soils
• Ark Vineyard: roughly 4.8 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon planted within an 18-hectare property on the southeast-facing slopes of Glass Mountain at the base of Howell Mountain, with distinctive black obsidian volcanic glass
• Few and Far Between: around 2 hectares in Calistoga sharing a fence line with Eisele Vineyard; predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with a small Cabernet Franc home block adjacent to the Woodbridge home
• 2024 acquisitions: Madrigal Winery in Calistoga (July) and the Kelly Fleming Winery estate in Simmons Canyon (August), the latter renamed Hundred Acre Private Road

Jayson Woodbridge's winemaking method is built around layers of selection before, during, and after harvest. Each vineyard receives multiple harvest passes to capture fruit at precise ripeness, followed by berry-by-berry sorting at the winery. Fermentation takes place in 500-litre French oak puncheons, allowing granular lot management and blending decisions. Barrel aging runs for extended periods (commonly two to two-and-a-half years or longer for top cuvees) in fine-grained, center-cut French oak barriques. The Ring cave winery, operational since 2005, uses UV and ozone-based air-filtration that the winery describes as NASA-grade. The Hundred Acre lineup includes single-vineyard Cabernets from each estate site (Morgan's Way Cabernet, Ark Vineyard Howell Mountain Cabernet, Few and Far Between Cabernet), the Wraith multi-vineyard blend, the Dark Ark selection from the densest Ark barrels (first made in 2015), the extended-aging Crypt version of Wraith, and the ultra-rare Precious, produced to under 90 cases when made at all.

• Berry-by-berry sorting, multiple harvest passes per vineyard, fermentation in 500-litre French oak puncheons, and extended barrel aging in fine-grained center-cut French oak
• The Ring underground cave winery has operated beneath Ark Vineyard since 2005 and uses UV and ozone air-filtration described by the winery as NASA-grade
• Lineup: Morgan's Way Cabernet (Howell Mountain), Ark Vineyard Howell Mountain Cabernet, Few and Far Between Cabernet (Napa Valley/Calistoga), Wraith (multi-vineyard blend), Dark Ark (first made 2015), Crypt (extended-aging Wraith), Holy Quest, and Precious (under 90 cases when produced)
• 24-carat gold ring fired into the glass rim of each bottle as the brand's stated zero-compromise signature

Hundred Acre occupies a singular position in modern Napa Valley. The winery's announcement that Jayson Woodbridge became the first winemaker to receive six perfect 100-point scores from a single vintage (the 2021s, scored by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW of The Wine Independent) marked a milestone no predecessor has matched. The 2021 wines that earned the perfect scores were Ark, Dark Ark, Few and Far Between, Morgan's Way, Holy Quest, and Wraith. Beyond the headline numbers, the estate is significant for demonstrating what obsessive fruit selection, micro-scale fermentation, and extended aging can deliver from three closely managed vineyard sites in three different Napa subzones. The 2024 acquisitions of Madrigal and Kelly Fleming signal a deliberate move toward broader geographic reach and institutional scale, even as the core wines remain stubbornly allocation-only. For students of the wine trade, Hundred Acre is an essential case study in cult-wine economics, single-vineyard Napa identity, and the commercial power of critical acclaim.

• 78 perfect 100-point scores reported by the winery across roughly 20 vintages as of May 2025, which the winery reports is the most of any single winery
• First winemaker announced to receive six perfect scores from a single vintage (2021: Ark, Dark Ark, Few and Far Between, Morgan's Way, Holy Quest, Wraith) per Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW
• Allocation-only distribution; no conventional retail availability
• 2024 acquisitions of Madrigal and Kelly Fleming mark a strategic expansion well beyond the three-site original estate