About Ancient Oak Cellars
Melissa and Ken Moholt-Siebert started Ancient Oak Cellars in 2006 with just a couple hundred cases of Pinot Noir, from grapes planted on the eastern slope of the Russian River Valley by Ken's grandfather, Henry Siebert. The winery now produces about 5000 cases, with Zinfandel, Chardonnay, and more Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley, and Bordeaux varietals from the adjacent Sonoma County appellations of Alexander Valley and Sonoma Mountain.
Ancient Oak Cellars has received a number of accolades for their wines, including a 91-point ranking from Tim Fish of Wine Spectator for the 2010 estate Pagnano Vineyard Russian River Valley Zinfandel, 92 points from Greg Walter's Pinot Report for the 2011 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, and 91 points from the Pinot Report and 92 Points from the "Prince of Pinot's" Pinot File for the 2011 estate Siebert Ranch Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.
Ken and Melissa say this is a magical time for their winery, with the addition of winemaker Greg La Follette to the team. "We've been sharing a cellar for several years and comparing notes as we have made wine alongside each other. Hard work and long hours are a joy and a privilege when you can share what you have in the company of good people. This is something Greg understands at a most basic level and we couldn't be more pleased to be working directly with Greg and his wife and partner Mara," says Melissa Moholt-Siebert, co-owner with her husband, Ken Moholt-Siebert. "When we first put the Sonoma Mountain Berger Vineyard Cabernet in the fermentor, it seemed like the air was singing,” says Ken. “I know that Greg can hear it, and I think he hears some other, different songs for our other wine varietals as well. I'm most excited, I think, to see where he takes us with Chardonnay.” The addition of Chardonnay from the famed Kent Ritchie vineyard will be the first vineyard-designate Chardonnay for Ancient Oak Cellars, and with Greg's long history with the vineyard, great things are sure to happen.
"Melissa and Ken are the real thing," says winemaker Greg La Follette. “I’ve been watching them for several years now and have admired not only their wines and their ideas about wine – which align with mine very well – but also their work and family ethics. Winemaking is like child-rearing, and Melissa and Ken have preserved their family's farm and are raising a son who is a professional ballet dancer and a daughter who is gifted in science, art, and literature, plays the cello – and also gets up before dawn on harvest days to work in the vineyard alongside her parents and the crew. So they have their feet in generations of dirt and out of that comes something ethereal. Of course it helps that they have some special hillside vineyards – all very close to Santa Rosa – that they farm totally hands-on and which produce some standout fruit that I can showcase. I am thrilled to be making wine directly with Melissa and Ken after having worked with some of their fruit in the past. There is nothing like small family winery stewardship to bring great wines to the table.”
The Moholt-Sieberts named the winery after the large valley oak in the center of their home vineyard, which has seen vines planted, torn out during Prohibition, and planted again. Their vineyards, in the Russian River Valley, Sonoma Mountain, and Alexander Valley areas of Sonoma County, are personally farmed by the Moholt-Sieberts along with the families that live on them. Their approach is steeped in a philosophy of a deep relationship and love for the land and sustainable farming.