Nelson Hill Winery

Our Story:

In 1999, Greg and Barbara Hill bought a small ranch from the Pinoli family in the heart of Anderson Valley's "golden mile" of wineries, close to Golden Eye, Roederer Estate, Husch and Navarro vineyards.  They began rebuilding one of the valley's oldest farmhouses and planting a small vineyard on a south-facing slope.  They selected French Dijon clones, similar to the ones used in their favorite old-world, burgundian style pinots, and set out to pursue their passion and dream of making a "memorable pinot noir".   They assembled a team who shared their vision of handcrafting small lots of delicious, well-balanced Anderson Valley pinot noir.

Deny Dudzik wears two hats as both vineyard manager and winemaker.  Trained as a field biologist, Deny is an International Certified Crop Advisor who consults widely on vineyard best practices.  He was also co-winemaker at Handley Vineyards for a decade, giving him a unique combination of skills.  Deny works closely with Ardzrooni Vineyard Management, the largest vineyard manager in the valley, whose team cultivates our crop with sustainable, environmentally friendly methods that produce the fullest expression of the fruit without the use of herbicides and pesticides.

Phillip Baxter, co-founder of Baxter Winery, located near the town of Elk, provides custom-crush, barrel storage and bottling services for our vintages, in addition to consulting with Deny on the winemaking.  A graduate of the University of California Davis' highly regarded enology program and trained in Burgundy, Phillip is a firm believer in the old world techniques that have made French Burgundy the standard for pinot noir for centuries. 

The renovations to the old farmhouse, the construction of the wine shed, barn and water tanks were completed under the direction of Jim Boudoures, proprietor of Philo Saw Works.  His dedication to maintaining the charm and original  feel of the Anderson Valley, as well as the consummate craftsmanship his team, further enhance the beauty and ambience of our property.

Finally, rounding out the team are several non-human assistants:  Joy, the vineyard dog, Robert the bobcat and Henry the heron whose mission is gopher abatement