Ferrari Ranch winemaker has roots in Willow Glen
The Corralitos winery is owned by Monte Sereno residents Liz and Dave Ferrari
Ross Reedy may well be on his way to becoming a rockstar winemaker, but he’s not letting it go to his head.
“I started making wine in the garage with my dad where I grew up in Willow Glen,” Reedy, a graduate of Archbishop Mitty High School, told a crowd at Liz and Dave Ferrari’s Monte Sereno home.
Fronted by rows of zinfandel grapes from which Reedy crafts rosé for the Ferrari Ranch label, the stone-faced home provided respite against the heat of a summer afternoon, as the Ferraris shared the latest releases from their vineyard property in Corralitos (formerly known as Woodruff Vineyard) with neighbors and friends.
The zin rosé tasted quite fine. “It’s made for days just like this,” said Reedy. “We tried making red wine from it, but it really just wanted to be rosé.”
Reedy also made a 2021 rosé from pinot noir grown at the Ferraris’ vineyard, which was met with approval for its bright and tangy raspberry fruit.
The Reedy family’s grape obsession began in 1959, when his grandfather purchased a prune orchard property in Alexander Valley. Out came prunes; in went vines.
“We have about 125 acres of grapes, mostly cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay. there is also a bit of sauv blanc, and I planted some malbec last year.” These days, he is so busy making wine for Ferrari Ranch and for VML in Healdsburg that he has no bandwidth to make wine from the family’s grapes.
His dad, Randy Reedy, is an attorney who has an office above Great Bear Coffee in Los Gatos. Ross describes him as a creative type who likes to write and play music, as well as make wine. The latter is a multigenerational endeavor.
“Some of my first memories were with my grandfather, punching down the cap of his homemade fermenting cab sauv in my parents garage,” the younger Reedy said.
Educated at Cal Poly, Reedy began his formal winemaking with Scott Hawley of Torrin Wines, a Rhone house. In Australia, he was introduced by Brendon Keyes of BK Wines to pinot noir, which he describes as the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
He credits VML winemaker Ginny Lambrix as being the most influential muse with whom he’s worked.
“She was incredibly sharp and made killer wines,” Reedy said. “I started working for her in 2012, when Truett Hurst (the parent company of VML) had a huge wholesale business.”
That part of the business was eventually sold off, and he now concentrates on small lot wines.
Reedy ended up as winemaker for Ferrari Ranch because his wife works for Dave and Liz at their “day job” business, One Workplace. He admitted that Ferrari can be a challenging vineyard, but said it’s also one of his favorites.
“The pinot from there is so delicate, which creates wonderfully structured and perfumey wine with incredible fruit,” Reedy added. “But it’s a challenge in the cellar. Our techniques are so gentle and as anaerobic as possible, and the moment you turn your back on it, it’ll start misbehaving. Its kind of like caring for an infant.”
The chardonnay, Reedy said, has abundant natural acidity. “If picked too early, it will burn the enamel right off your teeth, so the pick call is absolutely critical.”
The 2020 chardonnay, picked in defiance of the 2020 CZU fire that caused havoc for many Santa Cruz Mountains growers, is a gem. For Reedy, it was vindication. He had lost much of his fruit for VML due to the fires up in Sonoma, so this was a moonshot that actually scored.
Ferrari Ranch is now open for tasting by reservation on Saturdays in Corralitos. Reservations can be made at https://ferrariranchwines.com/visit-us.