Open: Year Round
Once known as the McNab Ranch, the property was originally homesteaded in 1868, by Alexander McNab, a Scottish immigrant. The original property consisted of thousands of acres of land, including the McNab Valley where our winery now stands. Nestled at the back of the valley, McNab Ridge is surrounded by some of the finest vineyards in Mendocino County.
The McNab Valley, in which the winery is situated, was settled in 1868 by the sheep rancher and Scottish immigrant Alexander McNab. To manage his flocks, in 1885 he imported two male "fox collies" from an original neighbor and bred a distinctive dog variety that, not surprisingly, became known as McNab; his son John imported others from the same area in the early 1900s. One legend is Alexander crossed the original males with Spanish females imported by the Basque sheep herders to obtain a shorter haired dog more resistant to California heat. Whatever their origins, McNabs are now treasured by farmers and ranchers throughout California and elsewhere, are noted for their devotion and loyal companionship, and are registered through the National Stockdog Registry. Napoli Lehnert and his wife Rena, who own the vineyard behind the winery from which we harvest Pinotage and much of our other grapes, have two beautiful examples - Pinot and Crush.
