Ketcham Estate Vineyards, Courtesy of Ketcham Estate Wine

Sonoma’s Russian River Valley is a sweet spot for Pinot Noir and Ketcham Estate has captured this distinctive area in the bottle.  Located in the heart of this famous appellation, Ketcham Estate produces exceptional Pinot Noirs and a Rosé from their estate vineyard, Chardonnay and Viognier from other vineyards in the Russian River Valley, and a Cabernet Sauvignon from Alexander Valley.  The Russian River Valley really channels terroir, that “sense of place” that so defines wine.  Pinot Noir loves the warm sunny days, cool nights with Pacific Ocean breezes, and fog that lovingly caresses the vines at certain times of the year.  Ketcham Estate has an added ingredient, a small creek that flows through the property about eight months a year, in addition to rich red loam soil.  They are a small production, 2,500 cases, but their wines’ quality more than makes up for the quantity.  Ketcham Estate wines have heart, something that is part of Proprietress Allie Ketcham’s DNA.

The Ketcham Family, Allie, Mark, Nick and Savannah, Courtesy of Ketcham Estate

Allie Ketcham’s life plan did not include going into the wine business.  Born and raised in Michigan, she studied art and literature at Denison & Oxford Universities.  Always embracing a challenge, she hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine in 1998, and then followed her heart, moving to a boat in Sausalito with a newfound love.  And while that relationship didn’t work out, destiny had true love in the cards for Allie.  While working as a nanny in Marin County, one of the mothers set her up on a blind date with Mark Ketcham.  Mark was a successful entrepreneur, having made his fortune in tech communications in the 1980’s, and who then moved on to the business of racing and collecting vintage race cars.  The spark of romance was lit, and they were married, moving to the vineyard property at Ketcham Estate in 2007.  Mark and Allie worked together, had two children, Savannah and Nick, and built a life revolving around wine, and their love of Pinot Noir.

Mark Ketcham at Ketcham Estate Vineyard, Courtesy of Ketcham Estate

Mark’s dream was to make outstanding Pinot Noir, and so he renovated the Ketcham Estate vineyard.  He kept the old blocks of heritage Pinot Noir, the Pommard 4 clones as the core, removed the Chardonnay vines, and then went about planting an additional four clones of Pinot Noir, 777, 115, 667 and 828, to add to the complexity of Ketcham Vineyard Pinot.  On their 17.5 acre property, thirteen acres are dedicated to these five clones of Pinot Noir, the Dijon clones all sustainably farmed.  Mark hired Michael Browne of Kosta Browne fame initially to create the wines he dreamt about, a blend of bright fruit that displayed a balance of acid and structure.  Since then, a few winemakers have come and gone, but since 2012, Tami Collins has taken over the winemaking reins.

(L-R) Winemaker Tami Collins, Manager Renée Graves and Owner Allie Ketcham, Courtesy of Ketcham Estate

It’s often said that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and that seems to be Allie’s story.  In 2020, the double whammy of Mark passing away and the Covid pandemic left Allie, a single mother of two, as the keeper of the flame that is the family business, Ketcham Estate wines.  It’s important to recognize that today, three women are running with the vision that Mark Ketcham divined.  Allie is joined by Renée Graves, whom she calls her “Director of Happiness”, and winemaker Tami Collins.  Graves, with over 20 years of experience in the wine business, manages Ketcham Estate operations, from the grapes to the glass to sales.  Collins realizes the potential from every vintage, staying true to the dream of crafting extraordinary wines not just from the estate, but adding diversity to the brand portfolio.

Together these three women have a stated mission: to make rich, seductive wines, structured and balanced, that compliment food and are a joy to share by the glass.  Allie loves to cook, and shares recipes on Facebook and Instagram on “Tastey Tuesday”, and on Ketcham’s website, illustrating the marriage of wine and food as the ultimate alchemy.

Allie Ketcham of Ketcham Estate

Allie Ketcham shares her wines and story with the LA Wine Writers

Allie Ketcham (R) with daughter Savannah

Earlier this year, I was introduced to Allie Ketcham at her home on Ketcham Estate by a fellow wine writer, and discovered a vibrant, passionate woman who was committed to the wines she helped inspire and create.  Then two months later, Allie came to Los Angeles, and shared her wines and story with the LA Wine Writers.  The wines are truly magical, and the sense of pride imbues Allie’s presentation, as she communicated the journey of Ketcham Estate wines.  We tasted our way through nine wines, as she recalled how Mark initially wooed her, “On our first date, he poured me a bottle of wine, and that was in the day when Ketcham only had two wines, our California modern and our Old World Burgundian wines, and when Mark poured me a bottle of Ketcham Estate, I went, “Oh my goodness, that is the best wine I’ve ever had.”  For Allie, this is a legacy she’s proud of, she wants to continue evolving the Ketcham Estate brand, and keep it going, with all her might.  From my perspective, it’s a no-brainer, the wines in Ketcham’s portfolio are incredibly delicious, and stand out even among the Russian River Valley competition, they are really spectacular wines for a reasonable price point.

Normally I start from the beginning of the tasting, but the star wine among Ketcham’s portfolio is the Allie’s Reserve, the wine that is dear to Allie’s heart, and recognized with a Double Gold from the San Francisco Chronicle wine competition.  It’s a complex process to find the “Goldilocks” moment, just the right combination of factors that bring the wow factor.  Allie explains, “Allie’s Reserve is the first wine that we blend, when we harvest our vineyard, we have about thirteen acres of Pinot, and five different clones that go into 60-100 barrels, just depending on the vintage.  And those barrels, there’s the new oak, the neutral oak, and the barrels that have been used once or twice.  So we have this whole blending realm of different flavors, different textures, different profiles, and we get to know each of those barrels really well.  From 80 barrels we’ll go down to 8, and the 8 that we choose for this are the top barrels. So these are the barrels that give us the best representation of Russian River Valley fruit, which I see as black cherry, it’s chocolate, it’s sassafras, it’s these wonderful flavors that just meld together.  When it is time to blend our wines, we’ll have a bunch of different barrel samples, and we’ll sit at the desk and play mad scientist. We’ll blend a little bit of this, a little bit of that, when it’s finally at the alchemy that just speaks to me and my palate, and what I want to drink all the time, that’s when we get Allie’s Reserve, it’s really the best of the bunch of our vintage.”

Listen to Allie and what she looks for in blending Allie’s Reserve Pinot Noir. She says she is absolutely spoiled by this wine, it’s all she wants to drink.

Now, on to exploring the rest of the Ketcham Estate wines I had the pleasure of tasting.

The 2020 Ketcham Estate Savannah’s Rosé de Pinot Noir, named after Allie daughter Savannah, is vivid, textured, and surprisingly full-bodied, with aromas and flavors of sweet red fruit, cotton candy, watermelon Jolly Rancher, peach blossom, apple, spice and vanilla notes.  Interestingly, this is not a sweet wine, but the aromas trick your brain, it’s well-balanced and the essence of raspberry evens out the impression of candied fruit, along with a whiff of citrus, which gives it a refreshing character.

The 2020 Ketcham Estate Viognier is vivacious, with intoxicating aromas of jasmine, honeysuckle, citrus and white peach.  Flavors of Asian pear, guava, lemongrass, and honey infuse the bright, textured and round palate, and continues on with a long finish, really fabulous!

The 2019 Ketcham Estate Russian River Valley Chardonnay is a beautiful melange of white peach blossoms and stone fruit on the nose, and a complex palate of citrus, pear, apple, and crème brûlée flavors, accented by notes of French oak, crafted in a classic Montrachet style.

The 2018 Ketcham Estate Russian River Valley 5 Clone Pinot Noir, considered their California modern style Pinot, is a blend of the five clones on the property (115, 667, 777, 828 and Pommard 4).  Balanced and structured, it floats floral aromas on a layer of dark cherry, strawberry, cola, and vanilla flavors.  I love the complexity that all five clones bring to this wine.

The 2019 Ketcham Estate Ketcham Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is an Old World Burgundian Style Pinot made from old vine Pommard 4 clone fruit, 46 years in the making.  Aromas of dark cherry, cocoa bean, nutmeg and clove swirl around a structured core, with flavors of ripe berry, dark chocolate, dark cherry and mint, with toasty oak notes and a lingering finish.

The 2018 Ketcham Estate Nick’s Cuvée Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, which is named for Allie’s son Nick, is a sweeter wine but with more acidity, as Allie describes it, a “carnival blend” that expresses cola, chocolate, cotton candy, ripe cherries and green Jolly Rancher notes.

The 2019 Ketcham Estate Allie’s Reserve Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is more complex, a layered wine with aromas and flavors of ripe blackberry, dark cherry, cola, spice and vanilla oak notes, a viscous and silky wine, with a long finish.  And what a treat, Allie brought an older version, the 2012 library wine, that showed the aging potential of the wine.

The 2014 Ketcham Estate Grand Vin Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is a big and bold Pinot, structured and integrated, with ripe blackberry, cherry, and dark spice notes.  This is considered their reserve wine, made from 115, 667, and Pommard 4 clones.

The 2018 Ketcham Estate “CabRenée” Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a well-balanced, dark fruited wine, with a velvety texture and elegant, balanced finish.  This is a blend of 85% Alexander Valley Cabernet, 5% Napa Valley Cabernet, 5% Petite Sirah, and 5% Merlot, which was Mark’s idea to round out the wine.  This is their first vintage of “Cab Renée”.

You might say that Ketcham Estate produces “personal wines”, not to win critical praise and awards, but wines that please family and friends.  Being a small, boutique winery, Ketcham Estate has a lot of leeway to do things their way.  This triple force of Woman-owned, Woman-managed, and Woman-winemaker are seeking to perfect the vision of founder Mark Ketcham, and create their own identity by producing wines of exceptional quality.

​*** Ketcham Estate wines can be purchased at ketchamestate.com