Round Pond Estate
875 Rutherford Road
Rutherford, Calif. 94573
(888) 302-2575
www.roundpond.com
Hours: 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Thurs.-Mon.
Tasting fees: $25 (estate wine tasting)
Varietals offered: Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo, Petit Verdot
Appointment necessary: Yes
Food pairing available: $35 (includes tour and estate wine tasting)
Picnics: No
The long, palm tree-lined driveway that frames the approach to Round Pond winery is your first hint: Slow down and take in the view. It’s time to relax with friends and loved ones so you can discover what this place has to offer.
Situated between Caymus and Beaulieu Vineyards in Napa’s Rutherford region, Round Pond is a young winery that owners Ryan and Miles MacDonnell opened in late 2007. The brother-and-sister team grew up on the estate, which their parents Bob and Jan purchased in the early 1980s. The family has been cultivating wine grapes, Spanish and Italian olives, fruit trees and vegetables right from the beginning. They built their own olive mill about five years ago. We’ll focus on the winery here, but the olive mill is also open for tastings and tours by appointment (and they make flavored vinegars and syrups, too). In essence, if you have the time, you can spend a good part of your day discovering Round Pond’s delights.
The 400-acre estate has about 350 planted vineyard acres, but less than 2 percent of it is used to make the MacDonnells’ limited-production wines (about 3,000 cases); the rest is sold to other wineries. Currently, the tasting room is pouring three vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines are poured simultaneously so you can compare and contrast them with each other. If you opt for a food pairing, there’s one item for each wine, all of which are created by Chef Dana Robbers to match the flavor profile of a particular vintage. Brian Bloom is the in-house winemaker, while Thomas Brown is winemaking consultant.
When I visited during the winter months (although it was a beautiful, warm day with clear skies, no wind and even a flock of swallows dancing overhead—the sound they made was similar to a wave or a hum), the items were along the lines of what I’d call gourmet comfort food.
Each wine I tried had the unmistakable Rutherford dust characteristics. The 2003, a blend of 95 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 5 percent Petit Verdot (earthy, smoky with dark fruit and mild tannins) was paired with a pan-seared potato cake made with herbs, chives and Pt. Reyes blue cheese and topped with Niman Ranch smoked bacon and Meyer lemon olive oil. The bacon, especially, brought out the wine’s flavor.
In 2004, Round Pond added a small amount of Merlot to the blend, creating a more sultry overall flavor and feel to the wine. It was paired with a roasted butternut squash, carrot and parsnip puree spread atop a cracker and topped with blood orange olive oil. This was a fun pairing, because the food was on the sweet side and balanced well with the wine.
Last came the 2005, a 91 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 8 percent Petit Verdot blend that yielded bright fruit flavors in this handsome young wine. It was paired with a duck confit on crostini with a Cabernet/pomegranate reduction sauce. The duck ran perfectly parallel with the wine’s profile.
The tasting room has both indoor and outdoor spaces, but the outside terrace is the place to be if you’re there on a pleasant day. It has plush seating and panoramic views of the property, the valley and the mountains beyond—truly a memorable sight.
If you visit for a tour, set aside up to two hours. You’ll begin in the gardens (the family loves plants, particularly succulents), including the organic vegetable gardens that are used for the food pairings. Next, you’ll visit the vineyards, where you’ll learn about growing style and soil composition, then move on to the production facility, tank room and chai. Finally you’ll end up in the tasting room, where Petit Verdot and Nebbiolo are included alongside the Cabernet Sauvignon offerings.
Round Pond offers a few different clubs, each created to suit your tastes. There’s one for wine, one for food (which emphasizes the olive mill products) and one for those who want to enjoy both. It also offers olive mill tours complete with an al fresco lunch, fresh olive oil days where you can purchase the oil straight from the tank, and a monthly twilight wine tasting and dinner for parties of 10-12 people.
Did You Know?
Round Pond is named after the place Bob MacDonnell spent many summers camping near Lake Frederick in West Point, N.Y.
Gardener Jeff Dawson (who also managed COPIA’s gardens) uses biodynamic practices, and many nonedible items are brought into the winery to be used as décor.
