Chris and Naomi Thorpe, the owners of Adastra Vineyards, moved to Northern California in 1980. They bought the 33-acre Carneros ranch that was to become Adastra in 1984.
After several years raising Angus cattle, Chris decided he had had enough of chasing stray heifers at obscene hours of the night. He established Adastra Vineyards in 1989, returning vines to the Carneros property for the first time since Prohibition.
Adastra Vineyards began as four acres of Chardonnay and four acres of Merlot. Emboldened by the enthusiastic reception of wineries to the fruit, Chris expanded plantings of existing cultivars to seven acres each and daringly added six acres of the heartbreak grape, Pinot noir.
Adastra Vineyards currently withholds a portion of its Chardonnay and Merlot crop for its own production, whilst selling the remainder. Having sold all of its Pinot Noir grapes to Etude since 1997, Adastra began to withhold a small amount of this varietal in 2002. The 2002 Adastra Pinot Noir will be released soon. Seventy-five cases were made.
