Pride Mountain Vineyards

The land where Pride Mountain Vineyards now stands received its first official deed in 1872, to James McGuire. Edward Hirschler bought the property in 1885 and began planting wine grapes, and in 1890 he built a stone winery he called Summit Wines. Prohibition brought wine production there to an end, and the winery burned toward the end of Prohibition, leaving ruins that still stand. In the 1950s the Gamble family bought the land and began removing the fruit orchards and planting wine grapes again. The Gambles sold the ranch to Jim and Carolyn Pride in December 1989. Jim Pride (d. 2004), a dentist who trained at Loyola College of Dentistry in Chicago, had served on the faculty of the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry and in 1974 started the business, later known as The Pride Institute, that taught dentists to manage and build their practices. The couple first planned only to grow grapes but soon decided to make wine as well. Most of the fruit from the original 45 acres of vines was still sold to other wineries when they bottled their first Pride Mountain Vineyards Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon at Rombauer Vineyards in 1991. The first Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, 308 cases, followed in 1994. The wines were made offsite at Rombauer Vineyards and then Kornell Cellars until fermentation tanks and a crush pad were installed on the property in time for the 1997 crush. A winery with a fermentation room, tasting room and offices was added beside the crush pad in 1998, and a new tasting room was completed in 2006. In 2004 the winery was sold to the Prides' children, Steve and Suzanne, and Steve took the role of general manager.

• 1872: first official deed to the land; 1885: Edward Hirschler bought it and began planting wine grapes; 1890: he built the stone Summit Wines winery, whose ruins remain.
• 1950s: the Gamble family replanted wine grapes; December 1989: the Gambles sold the ranch to Jim and Carolyn Pride.
• 1991: first vintage, bottled at Rombauer Vineyards; 1994: first Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon; 1997: first crush on the property.
• 2004: the winery was sold to the second generation, Steve Pride and Suzanne Pride Bryan.

The Napa-Sonoma county line runs through the estate vineyards, across the crushpad and up to the cave doors; an arch installed in early 2020 marks the two sides, and a row of bricks in the concrete between the tasting room and the winery identifies the line. About 60% of the land is in Sonoma County and 40% in Napa County. The business is split into two bonded wineries, each with its own accounting department. Bottles that carry the Spring Mountain AVA designation must draw that fruit from the Napa side, while many Pride wines blend fruit from both counties and state a percentage from each on the label. Because the estate rests in two AVAs, Pride cannot put the "Estate" moniker on its wines, although most of them are estate wines.

• County line runs through the vineyards, the crushpad and the cave doors; an arch installed in early 2020 marks it.
• About 60% of the land lies in Sonoma County and 40% in Napa County.
• Two bonded wineries with separate accounting departments; Spring Mountain AVA fruit must come from the Napa side.
• Cross-county blends state each county's share, for example 85% Sonoma County and 15% Napa County for the 2023 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.

The estate's 85 acres of vines lie across the crest of the Mayacamas Mountains at about 2,100 feet. The vineyards mainly face south and sit above the fog layer. Plantings grew from the original 45 acres to roughly 80 acres by 2006, and a final three acres of Syrah, the Sunset block, planted in 2018, brought the total to 85; the vineyard is farmed as 50 blocks. The oldest Cabernet Sauvignon block, planted in 1982 and the only original block the Prides did not replant, is the Rock Arch Block, named for a rock arch destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. Farming is hands-on: the crew judges irrigation by eye from the shoot tips, using water from three ponds, and makes as many as five walking passes through the vineyards in June and July. All 85 acres keep a permanent natural cover crop of local grasses, clovers, wildflowers and aromatic herbs. The vineyards are not certified organic, because Pride prefers fungicides that kill only mildew and spare beneficial insects. Paul Skinner has been viticultural consultant since 1990, and in 2023 Jose Castro was promoted to manage the daily work of the vineyard team after David Orozco retired after 32 years.

• 85 acres of vines in 50 blocks at about 2,100 feet; vineyards mainly face south, above the fog layer.
• Rock Arch Block: the oldest Cabernet Sauvignon block, planted in 1982, the only original block not replanted.
• Sunset block: the final three acres, planted to Syrah in 2018.
• Not certified organic; permanent natural cover crop on all 85 acres; 15 full-time vineyard workers year-round.

Suzanne Pride Bryan and her brother Steve Pride co-own Pride Mountain Vineyards. Steve Pride, Director of Winegrowing and CEO, has been responsible for guiding the winery since 2004, and his main daily focus is leading the farming of its 85 acres. Suzanne Pride Bryan, a UC Berkeley graduate, joined her parents at the winery in 2003; Carolyn Pride has retired. Stuart Bryan, Suzanne's husband, moved from Director of National Sales to Vintner Ambassador in 2014, and their daughter Kathryn Bryan, the winery's photographer, is a member of the third generation of the Pride family. Matt Ward became winemaker in 2022, the third in the winery's history after Bob Foley (from 1992) and Sally Johnson (from 2007); he holds a Master of Science from UC Davis and joined Atelier Melka in 2017, where he was associate winemaker. Jose Castro leads the vineyard crew.

• Co-owners: Suzanne Pride Bryan and Steve Pride (second generation, owners since 2004).
• Director of Winegrowing and CEO: Steve Pride. Winemaker: Matt Ward, since 2022.
• Viticultural consultant: Paul Skinner, since 1990. Vineyard crew led by Jose Castro.
• Earlier winemakers: Bob Foley (from 1992) and Sally Johnson (from 2007).

Pride describes its goal as making "intensely flavored wines that reflect and honor our unique growing situation at 2100’ elevation," and says those conditions "result in big red wines that are on the black-fruit side of the ripeness spectrum but that nonetheless are loaded with varietal character and a nice amount of acidity on the finish." The Bordeaux red varieties are fully destemmed, fermented over about two weeks in stainless steel and aged for roughly 18 months in barrels that are 50% new and 50% neutral French oak, racked every four months; Syrah is only partly destemmed and aged in neutral barrels. Each lot of red grapes is vinified separately and kept apart for its first eight months in barrel, and the red blends are assembled in the summer after harvest, then spend about ten more months in barrel before bottling. Chardonnay and Viognier are pressed as whole clusters and fermented in barrel. Chardonnay is picked at 21 to 23 Brix and has malolactic fermentation arrested at about 30%; Viognier is picked at 23 to 25 Brix, sees only neutral French oak and does not go through malolactic fermentation. The caves, dug between 1999 and 2001 among volcanic boulders 20 to 50 feet below the surface, cover 23,000 square feet and hold some 2,400 barrels.

• Bordeaux reds: 100% destemmed, about two weeks in stainless steel, roughly 18 months in 50% new and 50% neutral French barrels.
• Lots kept separate for the first eight months in barrel; red blends assembled the summer after harvest.
• Viognier: picked at 23 to 25 Brix, neutral French oak only, no malolactic fermentation.
• Caves: 23,000 square feet, dug 1999 to 2001, holding some 2,400 barrels.

The current portfolio comprises Viognier, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon; a Vintner Select tier of Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon; Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and Reserve Claret; Sangiovese; and The Summit. The Summit is the best four-barrel Bordeaux-varietal blend the winery can make each year from roughly 1,000 barrels of annual production; 2022 was its inaugural vintage, at 98 cases. Around 1,500 cases of Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon are made today, against 308 in the first vintage, 1994. The 2015 Reserve Claret, 60% Merlot with 39% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot, drew on the best Merlot block and the Rock Arch Block, which also supplied the 2015 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon came 68% from Napa and 32% from Sonoma, at 5,589 cases. The Chardonnay carries the Napa Valley appellation, and the vineyard sources for the 2024 were Carneros and the Oak Knoll District; the Vintner Select Chardonnay is labeled Sonoma County. The first Pride wine served at the White House was in 1997.

• Varietal wines: Viognier, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese.
• Vintner Select: Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
• Reserve: Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (first vintage 1994) and Reserve Claret.
• The Summit: a four-barrel Bordeaux-varietal blend, first made in 2022 (98 cases).

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.pridewines.com/estate/history/, https://www.pridewines.com/estate/jim-and-carolyn, https://www.pridewines.com/estate/our-philosophy, https://www.pridewines.com/estate/vineyard-philosophy, https://www.pridewines.com/people/, https://www.pridewines.com/wine/our-wines/, https://www.pridewines.com/trade-and-media/. Secondary sources: The Napa Wine Project (https://www.napawineproject.com/pride-mountain-vineyards/), San Francisco Chronicle (https://www.sfchronicle.com/wine/article/Pride-Mountain-killer-winery-views-that-straddle-15581348.php) and The Press Democrat (19 August 2022, https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2022/08/19/napa-valleys-pride-mountain-vineyards-chooses-new-winemaker/). Last verified 2026-10-20. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.