By Virginie Boone

Sonoma-Cutrer has been part of the Sonoma County Chardonnay story since the early 1980s. At the end of the month, its tasting room on Slusser Road will be closed, the end of an era for a site with a long history of grand events.

In late 2023 it was announced that The Duckhorn Portfolio would purchase Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards from Louisville, Kentucky-based Brown-Forman, a major name in Tennessee Whiskey (like Jack Daniel’s) and its owner since 1999. Along the way Sonoma-Cutrer became the third-largest luxury Chardonnay in America by retail sales.

Included in the deal was the brand trademarks, facilities and six vineyards in two appellations, Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast. The sale price was $400 million – $50 million plus 21.5% of The Duckhorn Portfolio – plus two seats on Duckhorn’s board. The deal officially closed in 2024.

At the time, Wine Spectator reported that “Sonoma-Cutrer had sales of $84 million in the 12 months through July. According to Impact Databank, a sister publication of Wine Spectator, Sonoma-Cutrer sold 543,000 cases last year, up 17 percent from the previous year, placing it among the fastest growing brands in the U.S. market.”

Duckhorn was itself acquired by private equity firm Butterfly later in 2024 for close to $2 billion. Earlier this month Butterfly announced it would be streamlining parts of its business, including closing several tasting rooms, Sonoma-Cutrer among them.

The outpost in the heart of the Russian River Valley has hosted a lot of happy occasions over its history, from Sunday Fundays, summer wine pairing parties, live entertainment and croquet. Hospitality has always been top of mind, with John Ash on board as consulting chef.

Considered quite modern at its opening, the 40,000-square-foot winery at Sonoma-Cutrer was described as “space age,” in a 1986 Press Democrat story announcing an award from the American Institute of Architects.

Designed by Santa Rosa architects Roland-Miller-Associates, the “burgundy-colored, board and batten winery was designed to blend with the surrounding countryside on Slusser Road in the Russian River Valley,” the story explained, and because of “the architect’s restraint, Sonoma-Cutrer did not become an architectural smorgasbord and emerged with clean, crisp lines that don’t intrude on the rolling hillsides.”

At the time, founder Brice Cutrer Jones was described as “the new breed of Sonoma County farmer… athletic, articulate and adventurous… rooted in science and deep reverence for technology,” as Press Democrat staff writer Tim Tesconi wrote.

Jones’s then $20-million Sonoma-Cutrer winery and vineyard operation – again described as “ultra-modern” – was originally owned by 75 investors.

Along the way, Sonoma-Cutrer bought 500-acre Vine Hill Vineyard in Forestville, still its biggest site, split into 49 distinct blocks of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay across 400 acres in Goldridge soils. When it was acquired in 1995, the land was unplanted and cost an estimated $12 million. Other interested buyers wanted to put housing, a hotel or a golf course on the property.

But sellers Robert and Barbara Walter sold it to Jones instead, continuing to use the property as a world-class thoroughfare horse ranch for many years. The Walters were inducted into the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Hall of Fame in 2010. One of their horses, Cavonnier, lost the 1996 Kentucky Derby by a nose.

The only winery in the world with tournament-level croquet lawns, Sonoma-Cutrer has also been a popular place for visitors to book a game, complete with tutorial, the only place in Sonoma County to offer this level of croquet. Chardonnay and Croquet was Sonoma-Cutrer’s signature offering, an annual tradition kicked off in spring hosted once a month through summer.

For many years the winery also hosted the Sonoma-Cutrer World Croquet Championship. Thousands of people attended, helping launch American croquet players onto the world stage. There were just two requirements – wear white and sip wine, not beer.

See what Sonoma-Cutrer is all about while you can, now through May 31.