Long Meadow Ranch opens Anderson Valley Tasting Room

In 2015, Long Meadow Ranch purchased 69 acres of vines in Anderson Valley, planted to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. Today the company, which also owns estate vineyards in the Mayacamas Mountains and Rutherford in Napa, a cattle ranch in Marin County, and recently acquired Stony Hill Vineyard in the Spring Mountain District of Napa, produces about 8,000 cases from its Mendocino County vineyards.

In July 2018, Long Meadow Ranch celebrated the grand opening of its new Anderson Valley tasting room, located at The Madrones in Philo, Calif.

“From the moment we acquired the estate in 2015, we knew we wanted to also have a place for visitors to taste our wines and experience Long Meadow Ranch hospitality close to our estate vineyard,” said tasting room manager Mark Mendenhall. “As soon as the opportunity presented itself at The Madrones, we knew this would be perfect.”

Read the full article at WinesVinesAnalytics.com.

Where to Stay in Mendocino County, California: The Madrones

Visiting Mendocino County, California? The Madrones is a lovely sanctuary where you can rest peaceful between your California wine tasting and outdoor adventures!

One of the things I love about traveling is the variety of accommodations available these days. Whether you choose to stay at a large, corporate, full service hotel, a private Airbnb room, or anything in-between, there is a place for you to suit your type of travels.

During the first part of our trip to Mendocino County, California, my husband and I had the pleasure of staying at The Madrones. It is one of the most beautiful, serene, romantic locations that suited our couples’ wine country getaway perfectly.

The Madrones consists of a collection of buildings located right off of the main highway that connects most of the towns in Mendocino County, Highway 128, in Philo, California. A gravel drive leads you to an idyllic setting of soft peach-colored buildings cradled lovingly by climbing greenery and pops of colorful flowers. Interesting stone and metal sculptures picked up by owners Jim Roberts and Brian Adkinson from their travels pepper the property.

Read the full article at UrbanBlissLife.com.

This Secret Corner of California Is a Paradise for Lovers of Great Food and Top-notch Wines

California’s Mendocino County is best known for its beguiling coastline. But travelers who venture inland are also discovering a sybaritic paradise in Anderson Valley. Jody Rosen meets the free spirits giving shape to this flourishing wine region with a soon-to-be-legendary culinary scene.

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The Madrones stands behind a grand gateway entrance in Philo, just across the Boonville line. The property includes a rose garden and a working farm. There are tasting rooms for three local wineries and an excellent little restaurant, Stone & Embers, that serves exquisite wood-fired pizzas and small plates.

There are four guest rooms in the compound’s main building, and five more in guest houses situated on the raffishly landscaped grounds. The rooms are appointed with a variety of antiques, nearly all from the collection of Jim Roberts, the owner. Weirder items from his stash—19th-century German anatomy posters, Victorian embalming machines—are on sale in the hotel’s curiosity shop, the Sun & Cricket. The main building has the look of a Mediterranean villa, with a shady courtyard and tiled roof. But there’s also a scattering of Asian statuary, a huge bronze dragon that presides over the hotel’s circular drive, and two fierce Chinese lions painted a lurid shade of pink. The first time I met Roberts, I confessed that I found the architectural hodgepodge delightful but disorienting. “Is this Tuscany? Spain? China? I’m not sure where I am,” I told him. “Good,” he said.

Roberts grew up in Orange County, California. “I always wanted to live in Mendocino,” he said. “I read about it. I dreamed about it. So I packed up my car and went.” For years the property was his home and the office for his now-shuttered interior design firm. In 2011, Roberts decided to try his hand at hospitality and, in the succeeding years, has gradually expanded the Madrones. Now, Roberts and his partner in business and life, Brian Adkinson, have added an adjacent property to the compound. One afternoon they took me to the Brambles, which occupies sprawling acreage in a grove of old-growth redwoods a short distance from the Madrones. The Brambles’ guesthouse, holding three spacious suites, is a Victorian stick-and-shingle structure. It looked like something out of a Grimms’ fairy tale.

Read the full article at TravelAndLeisure.com.

PACK THE KIDS, DOGS AND CORKSCREW for a NOR CAL ADVENTURE

Families today are seeking more than sand and sea to check off the annual vacation list. According to U.S. Travel & World Report+, multigenerational vacations continue to be the leading industry-wide trend in 2017/2018 with education, culture and nature-based trips taking a front seat. National parks are high on the to-do list as well, providinggroups with a serene backdrop to reflect and reconnect.

From luxury lodges to working ranches and cozy cabins kissed by ancient redwoods, Mendocino County is the ideal playground for this growing getaway trend. Sporting 90 miles of classic California shoreline, 24 state and national parks and a creative line-up of lodging options and excursions, this Northern California destination is big on bonding, be it with Mother Nature or Aunt Nellie. www.VisitMendocino.com.

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Off the tablet and into the woods… late 2017 marked the debut of The Brambles, a contradictory no-camp campground experience set on 12 acres in the heart of an ancient redwood grove. Located in the small enclave of Philo, off wine-centric Highway 128 in Anderson Valley, this new outpost – with a keen eye for the environment – features two original Homestead and Logging Cabins nestled below a towering redwood grove. The Front Door and Back Porch (each sleeps two) offer stunning views of Burly Grove and its most curious feature, the Pachyderm Tree. Up Mill Ridge and overlooking the lush forest, Faller’s Cabin (sleeps two) and the Logger’s Cabin (sleeps four) round out the current guest accommodations. Coming soon, guests will bewowed by a creative mix of additional tree houses, bungalows and cabin lodgings set in a late 1800s stick and shingle style architecture sporting a Steampunk design influence. www.themadrones.com/the-brambles.

Read the full article at DriftTravel.com.

Where the Cool Kids Go: 5 Hot Wineries in Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino

Smith Story Wine Cellars: Head north to Mendocino County to explore one of the hottest wine regions in the world - Anderson Valley. Here, the hip and chic spend secluded, romantic weekends at The Madrones resort. This is where you'll find Smith Story Wine Cellars, founded by husband and wife team Eric Story and Allison Smith-Story. The couple also has a tasting room in The Russian River Valley and one of the most famous dogs in Wine Country, Lord Sandwich, a gigantic goldendoodle who gained fame on Instagram.

The Smith Story tasting room features comfortable couches and a small area by the bar, as well as a retail space that sells stylish home accessories. Guests taste through a handful of Anderson Valley wines, which may include pinot noir, rosé, riesling, chardonnay, and the Lord Sandwich Table Red, from which part of proceeds go toward buying socks for those in need. 707-494-5575; 9000 CA 128, Philo. smithstorywinecellars.com

Read the whole article at SonomaMag.com.

How an 80-pound goldendoodle helped build a California wine brand

When Eric Story and Alison Smith-Story started their winery in 2014, they didn’t follow any conventional path. An old saw advises that to make a small fortune in the wine industry, you should start with a large one. That was not an option, so they went the modern way.

“We didn’t have an inheritance, and we hadn’t started and sold a software company,” Alison explains.

So they turned to Kickstarter to create Smith Story Wine Cellars, which now operates out of a custom crush winery in Sonoma County. “We are the first winery we know of to be crowdfunded.”

Read the full article at WashingtonPost.com.

Uncork a perfect weekend in Anderson Valley

To get to Anderson Valley from San Francisco, you drive north for two hours on Highway 101, through Sonoma County, into Mendocino County. When you finally pull into Cloverdale and take a hard left-hand turn onto Highway 128 toward Boonville, it feels as if you’re diving into a rabbit hole.

You corkscrew down several hundred feet of altitude on a ribbon road that snakes through the forests of the Yorkville Highlands, finally washing out into the flats of Anderson Valley.

Surrounded by heavily forested hillsides on both sides, Anderson Valley is a narrow conduit between the warm inland reaches of Mendocino County and the chilly, pristine Mendocino Coast.

Read the full article at sfchronicle.com.

Take a trip back in time through Anderson Valley to Mendocino

Scenic Mendocino hardly needs an introduction. Taking a detour to or through the nearby, lesser-known Anderson Valley feels like a trip back in time, with clusters of businesses in Boonville and Philo catering to tourists frequenting the wineries.

Highlights

The Anderson Valley was apple country decades ago, and vestiges remain in the form of farm stands and scattered orchards. But it’s mostly vineyards now, and wines are the big draw, from robust Pinot Noirs to Alsatian-style wines such as dry Gewurtztraminer, sweet Riesling and bold Pinot Gris. The Phillips Hill tasting room, set in a weathered apple-dryer building in an orchard northwest of Philo, recalls a bit of the old agricultural economy. Rolling hills abound with vines through the narrow valley, and you can experience nature up close with a walk through the Hendy Woods or Navarro River Redwoods state parks. The latter park is a virtual tunnel of redwoods for the last 11-mile stretch to the coast.

Memorable stay

The Madrones guest quarters in Philo include nine well-appointed rooms set amid a flowering garden and working farm. Three wine-tasting rooms hold court in the property’s main Mediterranean-style building.

Read the full article at LATimes.com.

Sleep Here: The Madrones in Philo, California

In a former life, The Madrones was a small rural homestead enveloped by overgrown gardens.

Today, the property is the rustic-luxe product of Jim Robert's elegant aesthetic.

It's my favourite kind of luxury: bespoke curation without a hint of pretension. Instead of hotel rooms, there are nine total 'guest quarters.' It's a moniker that perfectly communicates the warmth this property exudes.

Pulling into the driveway of The Madrones, I'm greeted by a villa-style facade. I tow my suitcase to The Cottage, which is set back on the leafy property. Fragrant roses and wisteria waft on the early spring breeze. I'm sleeping in the Living Room, which, despite its name, is my bedroom for the evening.

Read the full article at CanadianTraveller.com.

Newly Recommended Hotels in Northern California

The Madrones is a charming nine-room property that was originally the studio and office space of a designer. The main building could be right out of Tuscany and, in addition to four rooms, houses a popular restaurant (under separate management), Stone and Embers, and tasting rooms for wineries.

Read the full post at AndrewHarper.com.

Mendocino County, California

Lodging in Mendocino’s wine country can be found at The Madrones. Just off of Highway 128, the hotel pulls off that perfect Californian rustic luxury. The rooms—guest quarters as well as special suites at the back of the property—are each individually accented with stunning antiques that owner Jim Roberts has collected over the years. The Kitchen suite (in what used to be the owner’s home) is refined and comfortable. The beds are plush and fitted with the softest sheets (which are conveniently sold in the lobby), with French doors that open up to a private balcony. Plan on sleeping in.

Read the full article at MonteCristoMagazine.com.

WineInk: The Madrones

THE MADRONES

Just off Highway 128 in the Anderson Valley, cheek to jowl with Duckhorn's Goldeneye Winery, lies a Spanish/Tuscan/Santa Fe/California-inspired compound called The Madrones. And yes, when you pass through the walls into the courtyard, it is easy to begin humming the song "Hotel California."

The Madrones consists of nine stylish Guest Quarters, three excellent wine-tasting rooms pouring Anderson Valley wines, an incredible restaurant and a curio/antique shop that would be a find in, say, New York's East Village.

The product of interior designer/builder/visionary Jim Roberts, the complex began life as a rural homestead and television repair shop. Sensing a hidden gem, Roberts rebuilt the compound as a base of operations to house his thriving design firm and a creative incubator for local business in the mid-2000s. He also built a home that lies cocooned inside the lush, exquisite English gardens that surround the property. Today, that home has been repurposed as a tasteful and luxurious guest quarters for travelers seeking a unique abode to host their Anderson Valley stay.

Read the full article at AspenTimes.com.

The Coziest Winter Getaways Within 3 Hours of SF

THE MADRONES (2 HOURS 20 MINUTES FROM SF)

All rooms at the Madrones are one of a kind, but reserve the “living room” for the works: a fireplace, a full bath and a plush king-size bed.

Read the full post at PureWow.com.

Savor the New Coastal Charm of Mendocino County

Stay in Mediterranean-inspired style at the Madrones. Guest quarters feature nine spacious rooms (from $175), most with vaulted ceilings, breezy sitting areas, and a European-meets-California-cool feel. Or book one of two refurbished logger’s cabins in a new section of the property called the Brambles, where the design is outdoorsy — framed animal sketches, exposed-wood ceilings. Spend a lazy afternoon in the courtyard with a bottle from one of four on-site tasting rooms; Bink’s refreshing Sauvignon Blanc is an easy sipper on warm days ($22). It’s just a few steps to dinner at Stone & Embers, where the Italian-leaning dishes and a courtyard brimming with terra-cotta planters and colorful flowers evoke a Tuscan ambience. Order some small plates like spaghettini (from $12) with fava beans, lemon, and cured egg, or pizzas like the kicky El Guapo, topped with jalapeño salumi and piquillo peppers ($19), and toast to la dolce vita.

Read the full article at NYMag.com.

The Secret Life of Mendocino

It’s not hard to see why some have described Mendocino County as being “a state of mind.” Replete with rugged natural beauty—deep forests, wave-lashed cliffs—and somewhat isolated, it has an untouched feel. When the fishing and lumber industries nosedived in the late 1940s, the area became a vibrant artists’ haven, with Mendocino village at its epicentre. These days, the artistic fervour is subtler but still present. Drive into town, past the Center for Spiritual Living and streets of Victorian homes to the stalwart Mendocino Art Center, where that community still thrives. (Fans of the TV show Murder, She Wrote starring Angela Lansbury may recognize Mendocino’s shores; it was a popular filming location in the ’80s and ’90s.)

Winding your way back to San Francisco, Anderson Valley is not to be missed. Mendocino County wine country feels like a well-kept secret; it’s the Napa Valley of 30 years ago. In the heart of it all, check in for a night at the Madrones, tucked away in a place called Philo. Along with a garden full of citrus trees and Italian-style accommodations, the Madrones is home to four tasting rooms. Seek out bottles from Signal Ridge Vineyard, best known for its bubbles and high-altitude wines.

The Madrones is also a 10-minute drive from the Bewildered Pig, which was a French restaurant before chef/owner Janelle Weaver turned it into a rustic-refined gem with plates built around foraged fare. The “purveyor of gastronomic pleasantries,” as she puts it, serves dishes like rabbit pot pie, radishes with caraway butter, and an explosive “celebration of carrots” that includes them cooked, pickled, raw, and topped with chive leather (like fruit leather, but using herbs). The cozy 38-seat room fills quickly and by night’s end is boisterous with local winemakers.

Read the full article at NuvoMagazine.com.

Four Road Trips to Unexpected Places

Philo
Distance from S.F.: 121 miles.

One good way to know you're in a tiny town is if the elevation exceeds the population. Philo — elev. 331 — somehow manages to retain the feel of a hamlet even though it's home to 349 souls, however. This beautiful bend in the road in inland Mendocino County, three hours north of San Francisco on Highway 128, can be a rainy place in the winter. But it comes alive in the summer, especially at the Madrones, a complex of tasting rooms and guest quarters that's neither a hotel nor a B&B but rather a working winery with sleeping accommodations (as well as Stone and Embers, Chef Patrick Meany's intimate restaurant). It's a great place to do absolutely nothing, but summer events like the Barrel-Tasting Festival and the Not So Simple Living Fair draw plenty of city dwellers to the area. Plus, can you ever really get tired of smelling redwoods?

Bonus add-on: Boonville, a slightly larger hamlet a bit further south on 128, is home to the Anderson Valley Brewing Company and its famous sour beers (plus a disc-golf course).

Read the full article at SFWeekly.com.

The Ultimate Summer Road Trips From San Francisco

SF to Eureka to Mendocino

Distance from SF to Eureka: 270 miles; 5-hour drive
Distance from Eureka to Mendocino: 145 miles; 3-hour drive
This one is a real road trip, but if you have four days to a week, it's a great way to experience the best Northern California has to offer, from big trees to breweries and everything in between.
Must-Do: 1. Drive through the Chandelier Tree in Leggett. 2. Explore the Victorian seaport of Eureka via horse-drawn carriage. 3. Drink your way (responsibly) through all of Mendocino.
Stay: Camp in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, stay in a Victorian Inn in Eureka, and splurge on a night at The Madrones in Mendocino.
Eat: Pull over at The Peg House in Leggett, where you can get tasty burgers and maybe even catch some live music.

Read the full article at Thrillist.com.

GORGEOUS ROOMS TUCKED AROUND GARDENS

"Italian-style villa" is what your first impression might be driving into the stone and tiled outer courtyard of The Madrones, a luxury property in the Anderson Valley area of California. If you are staying the night you are in for a treat.

Owner builder/ designer Jim Roberts has put his heart and considerable talent into creating a real-time retreat, ready when you are. The proprietor wants you to have a unique experience and to start it off they do not consider this place a hotel, B & B or an inn, but "guest quarters" prompting the image of an extension of a gracious private home.

Read the full article at afar.com.

5 Reasons to Visit the Anderson Valley Now

Once upon a time, in the not-so-distant past, the Anderson Valley used to be a brief stop on the way to Mendocino to stretch your legs, taste some wine, and get back in the car and head for the coast. But in recent years the Anderson Valley has become a full-fledged destination in its own right, with hip B&Bs, compelling restaurants, and cutting-edge wineries. It’s still a tranquil, lovely place where time slows down, but there’s more now to do in that time, and reasons galore to stop and explore. While Boonville is still the hub, Philo, population 400, is where all the exciting changes are taking place.

Read the full article at forbes.com.

A Dreamy Drive Through California's Redwood Country

Earlier this year, after the abrupt end of a short and tortured marriage, I fled to San Francisco, where the surrounding landscape has always moved me, to recover. When (or whether) I’d return to New York, I wasn’t sure; all I knew (and all I still know) was that two reliable mood-lifters—redwoods and red wine—were now at my fingertips.

Read the full article at travelandleisure.com.