Benziger Family Winery

With vines poking out from the hillside grass, free-range cockerels crowing, and its collection of ramshackle wooden buildings hidden among the trees, this mountainside winery seems like an old family farm rather than a commercial wine business, and in some ways it is. The Benziger family came from New York in the 1980s to this former hippy ranch and transformed it into the valley’s only biodynamic winery while managing to keep three generations of Benziger happy on its 800 acres. Some 30 Benziger folk now call this land their home, many of them working in the winery.

Biodynamic farming principles go beyond plain organic, focusing as much on the positive forces of nature as on the elimination of chemicals. The overgrown look of the vineyards is deliberate (cover crops in biodynamic terms), as are the 30 acres of woods and wetlands. The colorful Insectory is a garden in the middle of the vineyards planted with native flowers to attract dynamic, pest-fighting insects. The nonnative peacocks had to be fenced in, however, because they were playing havoc with the vines.

All this and more can be seen on an entertaining, 45-minute, tractor-drawn tram tour that winds through the vineyards giving information on vines, local nature, and biodynamic principles, before delivering you to the hillside storage cave. Tours are $10, which includes tasting, and leave four times a day from the parking lot. The tram isn’t big, so when it gets crowded in the summer you should buy a same-day ticket as far in advance as possible.

Almost two-thirds of the 45 acres of vineyards is planted with cabernet sauvignon, taking advantage of the natural sun trap created by the surrounding hillsides. Other bordeaux varietals are also planted, plus some zinfandel and sauvignon blanc. The Sonoma Mountain estate wines are biodynamic and are priced from about $25 and up. The Family and Reserve ranges of wines, together with some more pricey vineyard designates, are made with grapes from vineyards all over Sonoma and Northern California, and most can be tried in the often-crowded tasting room. Benziger’s Imagery brand of small-lot wines, with its unique label art, has its own home in the nearby Imagery Winery (1883 London Ranch Rd., Glen Ellen, 888/490-2739, www.benziger.com, open 10 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, tasting $5 or $10 for reserves.).