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If you are a California fine-wine aficionado chances are you have heard of winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown—or TRB—as he is reverently known. And even if you haven’t, you almost certainly know his wines: Riverain, Schrader, Seaver, Maybach, Mending Wall, and Revana, just to name a few.
TRB is renowned for his minimalist, terroir-driven approach that has significantly influenced Napa Valley's wine scene. Born in Sumter, South Carolina, Brown developed an interest in wine while studying economics and literature at the University of Virginia. After graduating, he moved to California in 1996 and began his winemaking career at Turley Wine Cellars in 1997 under the mentorship of Ehren Jordan. Brown is currently responsible for winemaking and consulting for over 40 winemaking projects in Napa and Sonoma, including his own winery, Rivers-Marie. He is known for crafting high-end Cabernet Sauvignons and his wines have garnered multiple perfect 100-point scores from critics like Robert Parker and the late, great James Laube.
Mending Wall Winery, located on the Silverado Trail in St. Helena, is a collaborative venture founded in 2024 by Brown, vintner Frank Dotzler, and Mark and Donna Pulido-Walker. The winery's name draws inspiration from Robert Frost's poem of the same name, symbolizing unity and collaboration in winemaking.
Emphasizing a minimalist approach, Mending Wall produces small-lot, limited-production wines that reflect the purity of Napa Valley's terroir. Their portfolio includes varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, and Chardonnay, sourced from esteemed vineyards across the region. The winery's modern, sustainably designed facility offers an intimate tasting experience, blending contemporary architecture with the natural beauty of the surrounding vineyards.
On a trip to Mending Wall we were poured several of TRB’s vineyard-designate Cabernet Sauvignons, each one sublime, as well as the outstanding Petite Sirah. Surely any of them are worthy to be our wine of the month. Instead, we highlight TRB’s versatility as a winemaker with Mending Wall’s 2022 Stone on Stone Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley, our June wine of the month.
Made in a Bordeaux style reminiscent of the Graves District, the Stone on Stone Sauvignon Blanc blends in Semillon, resulting in a wine with the freshness of lemon, stone fruit, and guava but also with a great texture and roundness. This is not the typical monolithic Sauvignon Blanc, but rather an offering of thoughtfulness and complexity. To stick with the Robert Frost theme, the finish is not so much Fire and Ice as it is The Road Not Taken. This is a singular Sauvignon Blanc, worthy of your attention. At $45 it is also a ridiculous value. Buy a bunch!
Sauvignon Blanc season is upon us. When perhaps the country’s finest winemaker produces one unlike any other at a reasonable price—the 2022 Mending Wall Winery Stone on Stone Napa Valley—you have to know it would be our June wine of the month.
Learn more about Mending Wall Winery, purchase their wine, and follow them here:
@MendingWallWines
