The seeds for Brown Estate were planted in 1981, when a family friend told us of a rough-hewn property for sale in the Napa Valley. Upon seeing the land, our parents fell in love with the rolling hills, rambling walnut groves, and majestic oak trees that populated what we now affectionately refer to as "The Ranch."
After refurbishing the hundred-year old Victorian home that barely stood on the property when we acquired it, we planted our first ten acres of hillside Zinfandel in 1985. Five years later, having begun to acquaint ourselves with the fundamental nuances of grape-growing, we planted another forty acres that included Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, as well as more Zinfandel.
For ten years we farmed the land, selling all of our fruit to a variety of small wineries in the Valley. During that period of continuing education, we became increasingly versed in the maddening, exhilarating, and ultimately sublime exigencies of cultivating vineyards. We work to maintain, nurture, and encourage the land in a fashion that yields what we believe to be exquisite fruit, while simultaneously remaining mindful and respectful stewards of the property.
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