Thorn Ridge Ranch

Thorn Ridge Ranch is owned by our good friends the Klopps and is located south-west of Sebastopol in Sonoma County, California on a ridge just east of the last ridge before the coast of the Pacific Ocean. (In fact the ocean can be seen from the top of the neighboring ridge .)

The area in now commonly referred to as the Sebastopol Hills. Up until 2005 this vineyard was considered solely within the Sonoma Coast appellation, but  in 2005 the boundaries of the Russian River Valley appellation changed and this vineyard sits right on the edge of the boundary. Some growers and winemakers refer to it as Sonoma Coast, while others, like Inman Family believe that the luscious fruit has more in common with Russian River even though the acidity and structure on their own suggest Sonoma Coast.  The Goldridge soils are low-vigor and the vineyard receives so little irrigation that it is nearly dry-farmed.

According to Ted Klopp, "The wind flows in from the coast almost every day starting about 1P.M. and lasting until about 5:30 P.M. The wind is often very cold and even on warm days the wind is about 10 degrees cooler than the breeze at Klopp Ranch [Ted's home ranch which is about 10 miles from Thorn and not far from Olivet Grange Vineyard] and the wind averages 13 – 15 miles/hour. On the Beaufort wind scale (BFT) this is described as a “moderate breeze” which feels blustery, takes off your hat if you have no chin strap and kicks up loose dirt as dust."