On Wednesday, February 5, 2025, we interviewed and got to know Heidi Bridenhagen. Heidi is the winemaker for MacRostie Winery. We covered three of her new 2022 vintage Chardonnays and two 2021 vintage Pinot Noirs. We also covered a Pinot Noir from the 2022 vintage. Check out what we learned from and about Heidi and read our current reviews of the wines we covered with her.
Before we get to the wine reviews, I thought I would share a few tidbits we learned during the tasting with Heidi.
- Steve MacRostie founded the winery in 1987.
- The first vintage wine from the winery was made with Sangiacomo Chardonnay grapes.
- In 1992, well before the modern Pinot Noir boom,
MacRostie added Pinot Noir to its portfolio, and quickly developed a devoted following.
- Steve established and first planted his Wildcat Mountain Vineyard in the Sonoma Coast in 1998.
- The location was found by him and his son while doing his son’s school science project.
- In 2011, Steve sold the winery to Lion Nathan Wine.
- Lion Nathan Wine is an Australian company. It is part of Distinguished Vineyards, which also owns Argyle Winery, Wither Hills, and Markham Vineyards.
- Heidi became MacRostie’s third winemaker at the age of 29 in 2013. How did she secure this position so young?
- Heidi earned a degree in biochemistry from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
- From there she spent half a year traveling through Europe. As she explored local wines in France, Italy, Spain, and Germany.
- She moved to California, as her sister lived there. She went to a wine tasting and had an aha moment. While there, she met a lab manager from Jackson Winery who was looking to hire an intern.
- Eventually down the road, Heidi joined MacRostie, where she spent two years as an assistant winemaker working side-by-side with Founder Steve MacRostie.
- In addition to making wines for MacRostie and its sister winery, Clockwise, Heidi also oversees the winemaking for Dough Wines. A philanthropic partnership with the James Beard Foundation.
- Prior to Heidi joining MacRostie they had only 4 wines. A Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and a Wildcat Vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These wines were pretty much all sold wholesale.
- In 2015, MacRostie unveiled its state-of-the-art Pinot-focused winery and MacRostie Estate
House on Westside Road in the Russian River Valley.- It is also the home to the 13-acre Thale’s Vineyard, named after Steve’s wife.
- The MacRostie Estate House has been recognized for setting a new standard in Sonoma County wine country hospitality.
- Also in 2015-2016 the Nightwing Vineyard was founded. It is above the Gap’s Crown Vineyard.
- It first started producing Chardonnay in 2020 and Pinot Noir in 2021.
- Heidi discovered and brought the Mirabelle Vineyard and Klopp Ranch into the portfolio.
- Heidi is currently crafting her Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs using grapes farmed
by legendary winegrowing families, including the Duttons, Sangiacomos, Martinellis, and
Bacigalupis, and from MacRostie’s own Nightwing and Thale’s estate vineyards.- As a matter of fact, MacRostie works with more than 25 Chardonnay vineyards and over 20 Pinot Noir sites which is very diverse for a small-sized winery.
- Heidi also launched the winery’s acclaimed sparkling wine program, and established Clockwise, where Heidi and her team create wines from new wine regions and also make wines from other varietals, including Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel.
- Today 75% of MacRostie’s wine is still sold wholesale and 25% is sold DTC.
- 75% of their production is their Sonoma Coast Chardonnay.
- 2021 is Heidi’s favorite vintage for Pinot Noir, so far.
Below is a summary of the wine offerings from MacRostie that we covered with Heidi. The links below are to our full reviews. If you are interested in ordering and trying these wines, you will find some of these wines via your favorite fine wine shop or on top quality wines lists. You can also purchase these wines on the MacRostie website.
- MacRostie 2022 Chardonnay “Sangiacomo Vineyard” (Carneros) $52 (KWGTP 91.5)
- MacRostie 2022 Chardonnay “Mirabelle Vineyard” (Russian River Valley) $52 (KWGTP 93)
- MacRostie 2022 Chardonnay “Nightwing Vineyard” (Petaluma Gap) $58 (KWGTP 94)
- MacRostie 2021 Pinot Noir “Klopp Ranch” (Russian River Valley) $62 (KWGTP 92)
- MacRostie 2021 Pinot Noir “Thale’s Vineyard” (Russian River Valley) $62 (KWGTP 93.5)
- MacRostie 2022 Pinot Noir “Wildcat Mountain” (Sonoma Coast) $66 (KWGTP 91.5)
We also covered another Chardonnay previously that is still available.
- MacRostie 2022 Chardonnay “Russian River Valley” $40 (KWGTP 91)
You can find reviews of past and future MacRostie wines that we cover on the MacRostie KWG winery page on our website. We hope you enjoy these terrific wines as much as we did. Cheers! – Ken