Russian River Vineyards is going through a renaissance of sorts (thanks to new owners Chris O’Neill, Barbara Sattler and Art Ibleto), and NorthBay biz takes a look at the myriad changes that promise to bring the property to the forefront of Sonoma County wine tourism.
The first moment Chris O’Neill laid eyes on the venerable Russian River Vineyards property, he knew he’d finally met his Cinderella. Unkempt rows of vines, rusty machinery, a dilapidated winery building and a posse of bats—not to mention the warnings of friends and realtors—did not dissuade him.
“Everyone told me not to go there, because it had been the problem property of Sonoma County for at least the last 10 years,” O’Neill remembers. “But I like a challenge. And I knew it was perfect the minute I drove in.”
A look back
The story of Russian River Vineyards begins long before the iconic winery building—architecturally inspired by historic hop kilns and Fort Ross—was constructed by Robert Lasden in 1969. The land originally belonged to the Pomo tribe of Native Americans, who built a village on the site. Generations later, it was a hay field. The first grapes were planted in 1963, making it one of the original vineyards in the Russian River Valley, from which it took its name (long before the Russian River Valley was officially declared an appellation in 1983).
The land had been in the Riebli Family for many years. Lasden married one of the Riebli daughters, and the couple converted an 1890s farmhouse on the property into a very successful restaurant. The winery was the perfect adjunct, but didn’t exactly endear Lasden with the neighbors. Former owner Michael Topolos tells stories about how one neighboring farmer, who didn’t appreciate the traffic and noise, retaliated by raising pigs. Another neighbor reportedly let his jackass loose on purpose, only to have it storm into the winery building and damage a significant amount of wine.
Lasden sold the property to Jack Lowe and Roy Georgi, Jr., real estate developers from San Francisco, in 1975. They fell on hard times and couldn’t pay the bills. One day, the County Sheriff repossessed the last remaining tractor literally out from under a vineyard worker who was riding it. For a couple of years, the property was owned by Norman Chan, who sold grapes to Michael and Jerry Topolos. In 1979, the Topolos brothers exercised a purchase option and assumed ownership of the property.
Under the Topolos’ stewardship, the vineyards became a model for organic and sustainable agriculture practices, becoming one of the very first vineyards in Sonoma County to be officially certified organic. For 20 years, the estate was one of the county’s top winery destinations. The Topolos brothers operated a very popular Greek restaurant onsite and the wines, while never fully living up to the potential of their birthplace, were passable. In fact, the Topolos 1996 Zinfandel was the very first of that varietal to be served at a White House state dinner.
Over time, the relationship between Jerry and Michael became strained and the state of the property reflected the brothers’ discord. Over the last decade, it had been on and off the market several times, with more than a couple of potential buyers falling out of escrow for one reason or another. The restaurant’s clientele dropped off and the winery became more famous for an off-color label—Stu Pedaso (say it slowly and you’ll get it)—as the patina slowly ebbed away.
The man with the glass slipper
At the same time, Chris O’Neill was in search of a real estate project to occupy his time as he and his wife began spending more time on the West Coast. In Baltimore, O’Neill was known for taking obscure, neglected and distressed properties and magically transforming them into successful ventures. Using his Midas touch, O’Neill took several downtown Baltimore apartment buildings and renovated them to provide safe, clean and environmentally sound housing for low- to middle-income families. Another project he’s currently working on in Davenport, Iowa, will rehabilitate a historic department store and help revitalize the city’s downtown core.
O’Neill first looked at California commercial properties, but at the urging of friends, turned his attention to procuring a winery. With the aid of Michael Crain, president of Sonoma-based Blakeslee & Crain Vineyard Advisors and Brokers, O’Neill looked at several properties, but nothing really clicked—until he saw Russian River Vineyards.
Crain will admit that, at first, he was reluctant to show O’Neill the property, which was market-prepared and listed by Allan Hemphill of North County Properties. “Winery properties are complex,” he explains. “That property [Russian River Vineyards] has permits that are a very valuable combination—a winery, restaurant, tasting room and an unlimited amount of special events. It’s a thing of the past, left over from a time when the permit process was much different.”
Pursuing the purchase of Russian River Vineyards, Crain believed, could put the permits in jeopardy once the county began to review them. “The key question was if you could retain them. There were old, ‘open’ permits for building alterations that were never inspected, which rendered the status of the property unclear, since part of it was un-permitted. It was a complicated real estate situation that needed a creative, bold and courageous individual to take it on.”
O’Neill was up to the challenge.
“Chris is one creative guy—a very savvy real estate professional,” Crain continues. “He wasn’t afraid of the issues. Every time something came up [that could nix the deal], Chris said, ‘Let’s figure it out.’ He’s one to roll up his sleeves and just get it done.”
The path to ownership of Russian River Vineyards was paved, and O’Neill set out to find another investing partner. He met Art Ibleto through a mutual friend, winemaker Anthony Austin, who purchased fruit from Ibleto’s Pinot Noir vineyard in Cotati. Austin knew that Ibleto had expressed interest in buying a winery, so he introduced the two in Ibleto’s catering kitchen, as the Pasta King prepared his Italian fare. Chris made the offer and Ibleto agreed with a handshake—without even knowing O’Neill’s last name and having never seen the Russian River Vineyards property. When asked why he jumped in so quickly, Ibleto laughed. “I had to do it before my wife and daughter found out what I was doing,” he explains.
Through the looking glass
The first thing O’Neill did after taking over the property was get the income-generating elements up and running. In January, the restaurant reopened under the direction of Chef Gregory Hallihan, who previously operated Stella’s Restaurant on the site. Reborn as Corks at Russian River Vineyards, the restaurant serves a full menu Thursday through Sunday nights, a special Pasta King buffet on Mondays and a BBQ night on Wednesdays. In April, service was expanded to lunch on the weekends.
Corks at Russian River Vineyards is one of only five restaurants in the state that’s co-located with a winery (the other two in the North Bay are located at Domaine Chandon in Yountville and at Francis Ford Coppola’s Rosso & Bianco Winery in Geyserville).
O’Neill and Sattler also enhanced the tasting room, which is now open daily versus only on weekends. They’ve also put together an incredibly talented staff of wine professionals with decades of experience to run the business.
Anthony Austin has signed on as a consulting winemaker. Formerly with Simi, Firestone and Austin Cellars, Austin is the co-founder of Sonoma Coast Vineyards and is highly regarded for his work with all varietals, particularly Pinot Noir. Considering that Russian River Vineyards is located at the epicenter for some of the best Pinot Noir grown in the United States today, his association should put the winery on the map. He’ll be assisted by Giovanni Balistreri, a young winemaker who doubles as Russian River Vineyards’ general manager.
“It’s no secret that the site has been missing a reputation for producing consistent wines, which scares people,” Austin explains. “It’s my goal to produce excellent wines of good value, and to do that, we’re going to over-deliver.”
The winery currently makes 2,000 cases a year, but has a permit to make 20,000 cases. Austin says production won’t increase dramatically, as one of the first orders of business is to “resurrect” the vineyards. Plans are to replace most of the existing blocks of Merlot vines with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which are better suited for the climate. A small block of Merlot will be retained for historical purposes, however, as the vineyard was the very first to include Merlot in Sonoma County.
“We’re a little winery, and we want to make unique and interesting wines,” Austin says. “Our goal is to have fun with the wines. We’re old Sonoma—more relaxed and not gentrified.”
“And we want to make both the wines and the winery experience something different from everywhere else,” O’Neill chimes in.
Along those lines, O’Neill says, plans are to build a new, state-of-the-art, “green” winery that will be LEED-certified and use solar energy. Construction is expected to begin in a couple of years, once permits are approved.
With an unlimited events permit (virtually unheard of these days), O’Neill and Sattler hired Debra Del Fiorentino, a sommelier and certified wine professional, to manage the winery’s consumer marketing, wine education and events programs. According to Sattler, the response has been overwhelming.
“It’s true this place has been down on its luck recently, but people make it a point to let us know how grateful they are that we’re bringing back a very special place that’s had so much meaning in their lives,” she says. “There are many fond memories of this place. Just two weeks after we listed our events program on our website, we had 14 events booked.”
Sattler is also enthusiastic about other projects Russian River Vineyards will be undertaking in the coming months.
Cognizant of the beneficial contributions of bats in a vineyard environment (they love to eat predatory insects), O’Neill and Sattler plan to keep the colony of roughly 1,000 bats that they inherited when they bought the property. Currently housed in the rafters of the winery building, the bats will be relocated to a new bat house (designed to duplicate the architecture of the historical winery) that can accommodate up to 7,000 bats. They’re working hand-in-hand with the California Bat Conservation Fund to accomplish that end.
The couple also plans to build trails throughout the property, even through the vineyards, which will be recertified organic under the strict guidelines of the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) organization. New picnic grounds will be installed and decks will be added so restaurant guests and curious onlookers can enjoy watching the nightly bat launches first-hand.
Taking a cue from First Lady Michelle Obama, the winery will also plant its own vegetable and flower gardens, working with John Fendley and Theo Bill, owners of the Sustainable Seed Company in Monte Rio. The duo will plant several plots and harvest the perfect fruit and flowers for seed, while all the remaining produce will be used by the restaurant.
The winery also plans to play an active role in community efforts. Just recently, it produced a special Cabernet Sauvignon called “Save Old No. 2” with a portion of the sales of each bottle going to the Forestville Firefighters Association to help restore a 1930s-era fire truck that was part of the Forestville fleet for many years.
While all the coming changes are certainly no small undertaking, O’Neill hasn’t stopped looking for more opportunities to enhance the property. If he has his way, he’ll expand by purchasing the neighboring 2.5 acres from Rudy Riebli, who was one of the original owners of Russian River Vineyards. That will let him upgrade the entry (read: no junked cars!) and hopefully convert the house that’s on the property into a new tasting room, which would allow for expansion of the current restaurant facility.
For certain, there’s a new energy that abounds at Russian River Vineyards, a place that Sattler describes as “romantic and transporting.”
“Sure, the place was a mess,” O’Neill says. “But I could see the diamond in the rough. When you work primarily with distressed properties, as I have, you learn to look beyond the façade.”
But Sattler sees something even bigger. “The way we all met, the way this all happened—it’s like a constellation coming together right over this place. Everyone we work with is the best in their field and the most connected. And we work together beautifully as a team.”
With O’Neill as “Prince Charming,” and Sattler as “the Fairy Godmother,” the future indeed looks bright for Russian River Vineyards. It’s a classic Cinderella story—and we all know fairy tales have happy endings.
