Wine from Rehabilitated Land

Bryn Molloy and Jeffrey Sherwood did not grow up in wine country. They met in Washington D.C. restaurants — Bryn was front of house, Jeffrey was a cook — and spent around nine years working in the industry before the pull of the vineyard became impossible to ignore. [^86^] Jeffrey had been interested in wine since he was 21, influenced by chefs who were generous with their wine lists. A close friend had worked with Gideon Beinstock at Renaissance Vineyards in the Sierra Foothills and told Jeffrey that working with Gideon would be "the best opportunity one could have." [^87^]

In 2018, Jeffrey came to the Sierra Foothills to work a harvest with Aaron and Kara of Frenchtown Farms — a natural winery near Nevada City. [^86^] At the same time, Bryn travelled to Spain to walk the northern Camino de Santiago, covering 700 kilometres in one month through vineyard country. [^86^] She was captivated by the small communities of wine regions, the lifestyle, the sense of place. They were not yet living together, but their separate experiences somehow merged into a shared awakening — the realisation that they wanted to start a winery together. [^86^]

They had no money. No family in wine. No inheritance. What they had was luck, timing, and the generosity of strangers. They found landowners near Penn Valley — people who raised horses and had a small vineyard planted in the 1990s by a German immigrant who had since moved on. [^86^] The owners were pleased to rent the house, the outbuilding, and the vineyard to people who wouldn't use pesticides. For Bryn and Jeffrey, it was a rare opportunity: a place to live, a building to make wine, and a couple of parcels to farm — all in one handshake deal. [^86^]

Their first vintage, in 2019, was tiny — six barrels total. [^86^] They had the help of Aaron and Kara from Frenchtown Farms, who shared their buyers and introduced them to the local natural wine community. Fabien Rety — a caviste from Mill Valley who had been following the Sierra Foothills scene — became an early champion, tasting their wines, visiting their cellar, and communicating their work to a wider audience. [^86^] By 2021, they were making enough wine to consider bringing on help for harvest. By 2023, they had a distributor for California and were shipping wine across the country. [^86^]

Jeffrey Sherwood's winemaking philosophy is defined by restraint. "If you don't make a real effort to be restrained and you don't make an effort to make a lighter wine, the grapes give you a very, very intense wine," he explains. [^87^] The Sierra Foothills sun and heat can produce blockbuster wines — high alcohol, heavy extraction, aggressive tannins. Jeffrey's goal is the opposite: wines with finesse, balance, and drinkability that still express their terroir. Not full carbonic Beaujolais, but something lighter, more delicate, more honest. [^87^]

All sorting happens at the vine, not at a sorting table. [^87^] Bryn and Jeffrey choose which clusters are good for winemaking and which are problematic — mildew, pests, disease — before the grapes ever leave the vineyard. They use small boxes (25–30 pounds) instead of large bins to prevent juice from leaking during transport. [^87^] The goal is to preserve the year's work, the quality, and the true expression of the grape.

Red wines are foot-stomped, but not aggressively — "half or less of whole berry clusters" remain semi-carbonic, preserving fruit expression. [^87^] Punch-downs are gentle and infrequent — once a day, by hand or foot, just enough to keep the cap moist. [^87^] They often blend direct-press juice into their reds — essentially making rosés alongside their reds, sometimes 20% direct press, sometimes 50%. [^87^] This technique lightens the wine, adds freshness, and creates something that Jeffrey describes as "a little brother to a lot of the other wines" — less extracted, more approachable, but still deeply site-specific.

White wines are typically direct-pressed, though some see skin contact. The 2021 White Table Wine — 80% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Chardonnay — was destemmed by hand and macerated for one month on skins in stainless steel, then pressed into a single barrel. [^86^] No added sulfites. The 2022 Skin Contact Chardonnay from Mendocino was destemmed by hand, macerated for 11 days, and aged in stainless steel until dry — 10% alcohol, magic golden colour, crisp mouth. [^86^] The Chardonnay from their home vineyard is direct-pressed in a horizontal bladder press, aged in used barrels — 12.2% alcohol, 1,380 bottles. [^84^]

The cellar is tiny — about 60 square metres — with 14-foot ceilings, thick walls, and an air exchange system that pulls cool night air in and pushes warm air out. [^86^] They keep humidity at 72% when outside it is 37%. [^86^] All equipment is second-hand, sourced from Craigslist, Marketplace, and Napa classifieds. Barrels cost $50 each. [^86^] The only thing Bryn regrets not finding is fiberglass tanks — stainless steel is reductive, and they worry about electrical conductivity issues. [^86^] They rack as little as possible, letting wines settle for clarity naturally. When they do need to move wine, they avoid pumping — gravity and gentle handling are the rules.