Three Sticks Wines

Bill Price III grew up in Hawaii, where his surfer friends nicknamed him Billy Three Sticks for the Roman numeral III that follows his name. After a career that ran through UC Berkeley law school, Bain consulting, GE Capital, and the co-founding of private equity firm Texas Pacific Group in 1992, Price was introduced to the Sonoma wine business when TPG purchased Beringer Vineyards in 1995. In 1998 he bought the Durell Vineyard property directly from Ed Durell, who had developed the site since the early 1970s, and four years later he launched Three Sticks Wines as a small-lot Pinot Noir and Chardonnay house built around that vineyard. Price sold his TPG stake in 2007 to work full-time on the wine business and today serves as proprietor of Price Family Vineyards and Estates, the parent that oversees the six Sonoma sites that make up the Three Sticks Heritage and Monopole tiers.

• Bill Price's Three Sticks nickname comes from his Hawaii surfing days and references the Roman numeral III in his name
• Price purchased the Durell Vineyard property from Ed Durell in 1998; the winery itself was founded in 2002
• Price co-founded private equity firm Texas Pacific Group in 1992; sold his TPG stake in 2007 to focus on wine
• Price Family Vineyards and Estates is the parent that owns and farms the six Three Sticks sites

The Three Sticks estate is organized around six named vineyards in two clearly distinguished tiers. The Heritage tier consists of Durell, Gap's Crown, and Walala, all of which Three Sticks farms but shares with other top California producers; these three sites are certified sustainable and represent some of the most heavily allocated source vineyards in Sonoma. The Monopole tier consists of Alana, One Sky, and William James, smaller blocks farmed exclusively for Three Sticks by a dedicated in-house crew using organic practices. Durell is the flagship of the Heritage group, a 610-acre property that spans Sonoma Valley, Sonoma Coast, and Carneros and was planted progressively from the 1970s onward. Gap's Crown covers 406 acres in the Petaluma Gap, while Walala sits on the cooler western edge of the Sonoma Coast. Vineyard work is overseen by Vice President of Vineyards Rob Harris, with Vineyard Manager Shelby Rockefeller leading the Monopole crew.

• Heritage tier (certified sustainable, shared with other producers): Durell, Gap's Crown, Walala
• Monopole tier (organically farmed, exclusive to Three Sticks): Alana, One Sky, William James
• Durell spans 610 acres across Sonoma Valley, Sonoma Coast, and Carneros AVAs; Gap's Crown covers 406 acres in the Petaluma Gap
• Vineyard team led by Vice President of Vineyards Rob Harris and Vineyard Manager Shelby Rockefeller

The Three Sticks vineyards sit within some of Sonoma's coolest growing zones, each shaped by the marine and wind influence that the Petaluma Gap and Sonoma Coast funnel inland from the Pacific. Durell straddles the warmer Sonoma Valley side and the cooler Sonoma Coast and Carneros sides, giving the vineyard a wide internal range of microclimates and Goldridge sandy loam and clay-loam soils. Gap's Crown sits squarely in the wind tunnel of the Petaluma Gap, where afternoon gusts can exceed 8 miles per hour and small berries with thick skins are the norm. Walala on the West Sonoma Coast is colder still, with marine-driven fog dominating most of the growing season. The Monopole sites are smaller blocks within and adjacent to these conditions, allowing the in-house team to dial in row-by-row vineyard work. The diversity of soil and exposure across the six sites underpins the winery's single-vineyard focus.

• Sites range from warmer Sonoma Valley exposure (Durell upper blocks) to extreme cool-climate fog (Walala, West Sonoma Coast)
• Petaluma Gap wind influence at Gap's Crown drives small berries, thick skins, and structured Pinot Noir
• Soils include Goldridge sandy loam, clay-loam, and volcanic profiles that vary by block within each property
• The Monopole blocks allow the in-house team to dial in row-by-row farming at small scale

Three Sticks brought in Bob Cabral as Director of Winemaking in January 2015, after his 16-year run leading the cellar at Williams Selyem from 1998 to 2014. Cabral, who had produced the first 100-point California Pinot Noir for Williams Selyem with the 2007 Litton Estate, ran the Three Sticks winemaking program through February 2023 and built the house style around restrained extraction, native yeast work, and site-driven blending across the six estate vineyards. Ryan Prichard, who had joined the team in 2015 with prior experience at Williams Selyem, Copain Custom Crush, and Medlock Ames, was promoted to Director of Winemaking on February 13, 2023, after eight years working alongside Cabral. With the 2023 fall release, Three Sticks completed its move to 100 percent estate-grown fruit across the entire portfolio, retiring the last non-estate sourcing. The Pinot Noir and Chardonnay range now sits entirely within the Heritage and Monopole tiers.

• Bob Cabral led winemaking from January 2015 to February 2023 after his 1998-2014 run at Williams Selyem (where he made the first 100-point California Pinot Noir)
• Ryan Prichard was promoted to Director of Winemaking on February 13, 2023, after joining the team in 2015
• Prichard was named one of Wine Enthusiast's Maestros of Chardonnay in 2022 and received LuxeSF's Rising Wine Star Winemaker of the Year in 2020
• The 2023 fall release marked the move to 100 percent estate-grown fruit across the entire Three Sticks lineup

Tastings are hosted by appointment at the Vallejo-Casteñada Adobe on the Sonoma Plaza, a landmark building constructed in 1842 and one of the oldest standing structures in the town of Sonoma. The Price family purchased and restored the Adobe in 2012, with interiors by designer Ken Fulk that pair the original adobe walls and beams with contemporary art and tasting-room furniture. Three Sticks pours flights of single-vineyard wines from the Heritage and Monopole tiers in the Adobe's various rooms, with a Sonoma Plaza location that makes it one of the most accessible high-end tasting experiences in California wine country. The combination of the Durell foundation, the structured Heritage and Monopole tiering, the 2023 move to 100 percent estate-grown fruit, and the continuity of Cabral-to-Prichard winemaking leadership places Three Sticks among the institutional Pinot Noir and Chardonnay houses of the modern Sonoma scene.

• Vallejo-Casteñada Adobe on the Sonoma Plaza (built 1842) was purchased and restored by the Price family in 2012; Ken Fulk designed the interiors
• Tastings poured by appointment with single-vineyard flights from the Heritage and Monopole tiers
• Sonoma Plaza location makes the Adobe one of California's most accessible high-end tasting destinations
• The combination of Durell foundation, two-tier vineyard organization, 100 percent estate-grown move, and Cabral-to-Prichard continuity defines the modern Three Sticks position