Food and Wine: How to Find Terroir-Driven Wines

Food & Wine: How to Find Terroir-Driven Wines
Brian Freedman, January 2024

“Brion Wise, owner of BRION in Napa Valley, only produces single-vineyard wines for his eponymous label. ‘To me, the advantages are all in the expression of a singular place, a singular terroir, and a consistency,’ he explains. ‘Year after year, the same vines produce what is essentially the same wine, in contrast to a multi-vineyard blend which may vary significantly based on what disparate grapes or plots the winemaker chooses to blend.’”

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San Francisco Chronicle: Wine power player buys major vineyard in Napa's most illustrious region

San Francisco Chronicle: Wine power player buys major vineyard in Napa's most illustrious region
Jess Lander, August 23, 2023

“Wise, who currently produces the Brion wines and hosts visitors inside a refurbished barn on the Sleeping Lady vineyard, plans to build a winery and hospitality space at the new property.”

“We have to learn those vines and those roots and figure out what we need to do to take them to another level, to push the farming to the extreme,” he said. “It’s a long game, for sure.”

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Robb Report: 9 Outstanding Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignons to Buy Right Now

Robb Report: 9 Outstanding Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignons to Buy Right Now
Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen, August 4, 2023

“Brion Wise is the name behind BRION and together with winemakers Julien Fayard, Mark Herold, and Massimo Monticelli this amazing team makes stunning wines in both Napa Valley and the Moon Mountain District of Sonoma Valley.

This 2019 Sonoma Cab is garnet ruby colored....The tannins are velvety soft and and flavors of black currant, black plum, and red raspberry intermingle seamlessly. There’s a pleasant splash of bright acidity in the back of the palate before the long, long finish.”

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San Francisco Chronicle: Napa is home to one of the most talented wine barrel builders in the world. He only works for 2 wineries.

San Francisco Chronicle: Napa is home to one of the most talented wine barrel builders in the world. He only works for 2 wineries.
Jess Lander, June 2022

“…Caldwell and Brion sought out Herrera and his highly specialized skills a decade ago. He was one of the few barrel makers working in the U.S. to have completed a rigorous master cooper program in France....The most serious master coopers go to France to train in the centuries-old tradition, forgoing modern machinery and building barrels by hand. The few who graduate are among the most highly regarded in their craft.”

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Wine Enthusiast: Volcanic Hillsides and Historic Vineyards: Meet Napa’s Mayacamas Region

Wine Enthusiast: Volcanic Hillsides and Historic Vineyards: Meet Napa’s Mayacamas Region
Virginie Boone, June 2022

“…Julien Fayard makes the BRION and Julien Fayard Sleeping Lady Cabernets. “The vineyard gets a lot of morning light and morning cooling,” he says. “Sleeping Lady is closer to the mountain and closer to the Bay, slightly sloped to the east and not prone to sunburn or heat damage. The grapes get a little longer hangtime, the tannins are more complete. There’s a lot of minerality and complex density.”

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Latitude 33 Magazine: Fabled Vines

Latitude 33 Magazine: Fabled Vines
Justine Amodeo, Spring/Summer 2022

“…The series of rooms and alcoves devoted to hospitality culminate in a spacious salon where the Wises share their wines with selected guests. Ronda’s signature touch is evident throughout—a warmly eclectic environment that mixes vintage furniture with Wild West Remington bronzes and art posters from 1920s Paris in subtly themed rooms that are filled with curiosities.”

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Departures Magazine: The Best Red Wines to Drink This Year

Departures Magazine: The Best Red Wines to Drink This Year
Jonah Flicker, January 2021

2016 BRION Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon
“…This single vineyard 100% cabernet sauvignon from BRION comes from Napa’s Oakville Ranch vineyard. A long finish is preceded by big, ripe berries, mingled chocolate and vanilla, and bright flashes of citrus. This winery is a relatively new endeavor making bold moves early on.”

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Forbes: BRION’s Single-Vineyard Terroir-Driven Cabs Worthy Of Cult Status

Forbes Magazine: BRION’s Single-Vineyard Terroir-Driven Cabs Worthy Of Cult Status
Kim Westerman, August 2021

“…At a recent lunch with Fayard, the talented winemaker waxed poetic about minimal intervention and really listening to the grapes and following them where they lead. It’s clear that [Brion] Wise places a great deal of trust in Fayard and the other team members to execute his vision. And these luminous wines express that vision with equal parts grace and confidence.”

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Wine Spectator: Napa & Sonoma Open Up

Wine Spectator: Napa & Sonoma Open Up
Kim Marcus, Tim Fish, MaryAnn Worobiec, and Aaron Romano, June 2021

“…BRION makes single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons from top appellations in Napa and Sonoma, overseen by a trio of talented winemakers—Julien Fayard, Mark Herold and Massimo Monticelli—who each specialize in a given site… For an exploration of Cabernet far from the madding crowd, BRION is hard to beat.”

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Robb Report: These Cabernets from BRION Will Change How You Think About Napa Cabs

Robb Report: These Cabernets From Brion Will Change How You Think About Napa Cabs
Sara L. Schneider, May 2021

“Brion Wise has employed not one, but three, winemakers to coax the best out of his four vineyards’ terroir.…‘My intent was, and is, to marry each vineyard with a winemaker whose style best fits what comes from the land.’ That human understanding is critical, in Wise’s view, to making the best wine possible from a place. ‘What you do in the vineyard,’ he says, ‘goes all the way through to the bottle. Having winemakers that understand that, and understand what the vineyard delivers and how to extract that is everything. Farming techniques are critical in this process, and our philosophy is not to change what the vineyard delivers.’...The deft—and different—hands in these vineyards and on the wines show, and create a snapshot of diversity in the BRION 2016 lineup that Napa critics often fail to see.”

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