Mount Eden Vineyards

Paul Masson, who grew up in Burgundy, purchased 573 acres in Saratoga in early 1900, named the property La Cresta and planted 60 acres, mainly to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Martin Ray (d. 1976) bought Masson's wine company and later sold it to Seagram's. Ray purchased the first parcel of the neighboring mountaintop, now the site of Mount Eden Vineyards, in 1943, planted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with cuttings from Masson's La Cresta vineyard, and named his wine estate Martin Ray. He also planted Cabernet Sauvignon with cuttings from Emmett Rixford's La Questa Vineyard in Woodside. In the early 1960s Ray established a partnership to develop more vineyards, and in 1970 he lost the property to his investors. In 1972 the estate was renamed Mount Eden Vineyards, and the partners hired Richard Graff, founder of Chalone, as a consultant; Merry Edwards produced the wines from 1974 to 1976. Jeffrey Patterson was hired as assistant winemaker in 1981, and in January 1983 the shareholders promoted him to winemaker and hired Ellie Patterson to handle finances and marketing. A financial reorganization in 1986 enabled the Pattersons to invest as minority shareholders, and in 2008 they acquired the majority of the ownership with their two children, Sophie and Reid. Late in 2007 Mount Eden acquired the former Cinnabar wine estate on a neighboring mountaintop above Saratoga and renamed it Domaine Eden. The present-day Martin Ray Winery in the Russian River Valley has no connection to the historic Martin Ray brand.

• 1943: Martin Ray purchased the first parcel of the mountaintop; Pinot Noir and Chardonnay were planted in 1945.
• 1970: Ray lost the property to his investors; 1972: the estate was renamed Mount Eden Vineyards, with Richard Graff of Chalone as consultant.
• 1981: Jeffrey Patterson hired as assistant winemaker; January 1983: promoted to head winemaker and general manager.
• 1986: the Pattersons became shareholders; 2008: they acquired the majority of the ownership with their children, Sophie and Reid.
• 2007: the former Cinnabar estate was acquired and renamed Domaine Eden.

Ellie Davis Patterson is CEO, Reid Patterson is General Manager, Austin Chin is Winemaker, Andrea Kyle is Director of Operations, Michele Duckett is Sales Director and Sophie Patterson Sharabi is Corporate Secretary. Jeffrey Patterson retired in 2025 and is Winemaker Emeritus; Austin Chin assumed the position of Head Winemaker in 2025, having arrived at Mount Eden in late 2016 and become assistant winemaker in 2018. Reid Patterson returned to the winery in 2017 to lead the vineyard team, and Sophie joined in 2018 to help develop the hospitality program. Andrea Kyle, who joined Mount Eden in 2000, was promoted to Director of Operations in 2022, followed shortly by Reid's promotion to General Manager. Michele Duckett joined as Sales Director in 2019.

• Owners: the Patterson family, majority shareholders since 2008.
• Ellie Davis Patterson, CEO; Reid Patterson, General Manager; Austin Chin, Winemaker; Andrea Kyle, Director of Operations.
• Jeffrey Patterson: assistant winemaker from 1981, head winemaker from January 1983, retired in 2025 and now Winemaker Emeritus.
• Austin Chin: assistant winemaker from 2018, Head Winemaker from 2025.

The estate vineyards lie at 2,000 feet in the Santa Cruz Mountains appellation, 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean, in infertile Franciscan shale above the fog line. Most of the acres farmed are on eastern slopes, and the vineyards are dry-farmed. The site consists of 40 acres of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc vines. Beginning in 1984 Patterson replanted some of the Cabernet and Chardonnay vineyards, and in the 1990s almost all of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; by the early 2000s there were 7 acres of Pinot Noir, 20 acres of Chardonnay and 13 acres of Bordeaux varieties. The vines are trained vertically, and the crop is thinned when necessary so that yields do not exceed two tons per acre. Harvest normally begins in the first weeks of September and finishes around the end of October. Established in 1981, the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA was among the first in California to be defined by mountain topography, with a boundary that follows the morning fog line. Domaine Eden, about a mile away as the crow flies, is a 55-acre site founded and built by Tom Mudd in 1983 and the former home of Cinnabar Winery; its winery sits at about 1,650 feet on Los Gatos Clay Loam, with north- and east-facing vineyards, three cut-and-cover caves and a modern tank room. Twelve acres there were already planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, including a small block of Cabernet Sauvignon, when Mount Eden bought it. The Domaine Eden Pinot Noir draws on Dijon clones 777, 667 and 828 alongside the California selections Mount Eden, Calera and Swan. In Edna Valley, outside San Luis Obispo, Jean-Pierre Wolff farms 55 acres of Chardonnay planted in 1976 by Andy Macgregor, from whom Wolff purchased the property in 1999.

• Mount Eden estate: 40 acres at 2,000 feet in Franciscan shale, mostly on eastern slopes, dry-farmed.
• Plantings in the early 2000s: 7 acres of Pinot Noir, 20 acres of Chardonnay and 13 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
• Domaine Eden: 55 acres, winery at about 1,650 feet, Los Gatos Clay Loam, north- and east-facing vineyards.
• Wolff Vineyard, Edna Valley: 55 acres of Chardonnay farmed by Jean-Pierre Wolff, planted in 1976; a Mount Eden source since 1985.

The Mount Eden Estate range comprises Estate Chardonnay, Reserve Chardonnay, Estate Pinot Noir, The Tanaka Project Pinot Noir and Estate Cabernet Sauvignon; Domaine Eden makes Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon; and Mount Eden also bottles a Wolff Vineyard Chardonnay from Edna Valley. Estate Chardonnay comes from 20 acres, with 1,200 to 2,000 cases produced per year; the grapes are pressed without crushing, barrel-fermented in new and one-year-old French Burgundy barrels with full malolactic fermentation, aged on the lees for ten months and cellared for two years before release. The Reserve Chardonnay, made since 2007 from the same vines, spends ten months in barrel and then a further ten months in stainless steel tank with all the gross lees. The Estate Pinot Noir comes from seven acres and is fermented with natural yeasts in small open-top fermentors, then aged eighteen months in 75% new and 25% one-year-old French Burgundy barrels and bottled unfined and unfiltered. The Tanaka Project, the winery's first single-vineyard Pinot Noir, introduced in 2020, comes from the Tanaka Vineyard, a Pinot Noir vineyard renamed for poet Ron Tanaka (d. 2007); only three barrels, approximately 75 cases, are produced. The Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of approximately 75% Cabernet, 22% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc that varies by vintage; it is fermented in small 1,000-gallon stainless steel tanks and spends twenty-two months in the cellar before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. The Domaine Eden wines replaced an earlier tier called Saratoga Cuvée; the Domaine Eden Chardonnay is usually 60% Mount Eden and 40% Domaine Eden fruit, and the Domaine Eden Cabernet Sauvignon blends Bordeaux varieties from Mount Eden, Domaine Eden and three sites in Saratoga and Los Gatos. For sixteen years the non-estate label was called M.E.V. due to a legal agreement with Villa Mt. Eden; from 1988 the non-estate Chardonnay was labeled Mount Eden Vineyards. As of 2019, annual production was 204,000 bottles, 25% of them under the Mount Eden Vineyards label.

• Mount Eden Estate: Estate Chardonnay, Reserve Chardonnay, Estate Pinot Noir, The Tanaka Project Pinot Noir, Estate Cabernet Sauvignon.
• Domaine Eden: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon.
• Edna Valley: Wolff Vineyard Chardonnay, made since 1985.
• Estate Cabernet Sauvignon: approximately 75% Cabernet, 22% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, varying by vintage.

Mount Eden characterizes Patterson's emphasis as being on “wine growing rather than winemaking”, and Patterson writes that in the cellar “the approach has always been to let the wine and the vintage speak for itself,” with gentle handling of the fruit, no pumping, and natural yeast fermentations. The winery describes the Estate Pinot Noir's “elegant, transparent style” as “more Burgundian than Californian,” with wild strawberry, earth, blueberry and dill, and the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon as showing refreshing acidity, moderate alcohol and flavors of red currant, blackberry and earth. From 2006 Patterson used only natural yeasts for fermentation, and from 2007 Patterson used 30% to 40% stems in the Pinot Noirs. Wine Spectator wrote in 2015 that the wines “are styled to age for 10 years or longer.”

• Gentle handling, no pumping and natural yeast fermentations.
• Estate Pinot Noir and Estate Cabernet Sauvignon are bottled unfined and unfiltered.
• From 2007, 30% to 40% stems in the Pinot Noirs.

The 2012 Mount Eden Chardonnay was No. 5 in Wine Spectator's Top 100 of 2015. The 2014 Domaine Eden Pinot Noir was served at the 2018 wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

• No. 5, Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2015: Mount Eden Chardonnay 2012.
• 2014 Domaine Eden Pinot Noir served at the 2018 wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Mount Eden is located 2,000 feet up a remote 2.2-mile private road at 22020 Mount Eden Road, Saratoga. Tastings are by appointment only, Monday through Friday, for groups of six or fewer, and all visitors must be at least 21. A second tasting room at the Domaine Eden property opened in May 2024 for events and weekend wine tastings.

• By appointment, Monday through Friday; closed weekends.
• Signature Tasting and Estate Tasting flights; the Estate Tasting includes previous-vintage Estate releases and a library Estate Cabernet Sauvignon.
• Domaine Eden tasting room, opened May 2024, for events and weekend tastings.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.mounteden.com/, https://www.mounteden.com/story/, https://www.mounteden.com/wines/, https://www.mounteden.com/visitus/, https://www.mounteden.com/faq/, https://www.mounteden.com/wine/estate-bottled-pinot-noir/, https://www.mounteden.com/wine/estate-chardonnay/, https://www.mounteden.com/wine/cabernet-sauvignon/, https://www.mounteden.com/wine/reserve-chardonnay/, https://www.mounteden.com/wine/the-tanaka-project-pinot-noir/, https://www.mounteden.com/wine/domaine-eden-chardonnay/, https://www.mounteden.com/wine/domain-eden-pinot-noir/, https://www.mounteden.com/wine/domaine-eden-cabernet-savignon/, https://www.mounteden.com/wine/wolff-vineyard-chardonnay/. Secondary sources: Decanter (Elin McCoy, last updated 21 August 2019), https://www.decanter.com/premium/producer-profile-mount-eden-wine-421279/, and Wine Spectator's Top 100 of 2015, https://top100.winespectator.com/2015/wine/5-mount-eden/. Last verified 2026-10-18. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.