Discover what California's most talented winemakers know about El Dorado County vineyards
Edmunds St. John has been around for 37 years now, and we've developed a strong reputation for producing wines that are expressive, delicious, layered, texturally compelling and driven by the character of the vineyard. That didn't happen by accident; Goldbud shaped how it all happened, from the ground up.
In 2003 after we returned from a year with the inimitable Eric Texier where we studied the art of crafting natural wines in the Rhone Valley we found our way to Ron Mansfield via an 8’ geologic map of California and a life changing bottle of the 1993 Edmunds St. John Wylie Fenuaghty. It took us two years to convince Ron to trust his Fenaughty Vineyard Syrah in our hands and we made our first vintage in 2005. That was the start of our longest grower relationship and together we put El Dorado on the radar for Rhone fans around the world.
El Dorado is truly one of the great underdog stories in California viticulture. A mix of high elevation mountainous topography and unique soils converge in this special AVA. Careful and masterful farming have cemented Goldbud Farms as one of the greats in the industry and we consider ourselves lucky to be in the small roster of winemakers that get to work with the fruit.
