The Bucklin's were all born and raised in San Francisco, but spent virtually every weekend and summer on their Grandmother's ranch in Sonoma. In 1976, their mother Anne, a professional landscape gardener, moved to Sonoma when she married Otto Teller. Otto and Anne lived together on Oak Hill Farm where they raised organic flowers and vegetables. In 1981, the Tellers purchased the venerable Old Hill Ranch Vineyard which is adjacent to the farm. Meanwhile, the four Bucklin siblings set off on separate paths across the country pursuing various careers, spouses, and hobgoblins, only to return to the family farm in Sonoma.
Will Bucklin's first birthday gift was a bottle of 1961 Chateau Lafite Rothschild. Lucky for him his godparents were enophiles that gave him a bottle of wine each year until his 21st birthday - and what a birthday it was! Will went on to study Enology at Davis. Upon his graduation in 1985, he traveled to France for an internship at Chateau Lafite Rothschild. Will also worked in Australia at Thomas Hardy and Sons, and then in Mendocino at Navarro winery where he was infected with the Pinot Noir bug. In 1992, he moved to Oregon to become winemaker for King Estate Winery. In 2000, at the insistence of his brother Ted, who was managing both family businesses ~ Oak Hill Farm and Old Hill Ranch ~ he moved back to California to live on Old Hill Ranch, manage the vineyard, and help found the family winery. Will does intend to drink the 1961 Lafite someday.
