ROBERT REX, DEERFIELD RANCH WINERIES, NAPA
2018 WINE MAKER OF THE YEAR
Robert Rex started making wine in 1972 in Berkeley, California. He has worked for many different wineries, started wineries for others, specializing in rebuilding wineries and starting winemaking programs for those wineries when they changed hands. He has taught winemaking and still acts as a consulting winemaker.
PJ and Robert Rex bought Deerfield Ranch in 1982 and began making wine under the Deerfield Ranch label at off-site winery facilities. In 1996, the Deerfield Ranch Winery facility was bonded. A portion of our wine is still made at the 17-acre Deerfield Ranch, located in Kenwood.
In 2000 the Deerfield Ranch Winery was turned into a Limited Liability Company. We purchased 47 acres of adjacent land now referred to as Deerfield Ranch North. This is the site for our new 45,000-case winery, tasting room, art gallery, hospitality center, barrel aging caves, and nature center. The nature center will feature the wetland marsh and forest that are part of this spectacular property. With the harvest of 2004 all winemaking operations were moved to this new winery facility on Highway 12 (10200 Sonoma Highway) in Kenwood.
Our Winemaking style has its roots in the great French wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy. Winemaker Robert Rex believes that the blending of attributes creates the best wines. Grapes from complementary soil types and microclimates are often married to maximize varietal characteristics and complexity.
Blends can be of different varietals, grapes from varied appellations, distinct sections of one vineyard or from wines made from the same source but by varied techniques. Robert says that wine making is more like cooking than chemistry — and he makes wine like great chefs create great cuisine.
Wine making techniques vary according to the demands of the fruit rather than any preconceived recipe. Extended fermentation times (extended maceration), controlled temperatures and extended barrel aging of our reds produce wines that are fully developed and complex yet drinkable at an early age. Both French and American oak barrels are used for barrel aging, depending on the wine. Our wines are truly handmade. We hope you enjoy drinking them as much as we enjoy making them.