Camp Meeting Ridge

Walt and Joan Flowers planted Camp Meeting Ridge from 1991 on the first ridgeline in from the Pacific above the old Seaview settlement, and built one of the earliest wineries in what became the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA.

History

The Flowers family, Pennsylvania nursery owners, bought the ridge in 1989 and began planting in 1991, when serious viticulture this close to the ocean was still considered a gamble. The ridge is said to take its name from the Pomo who camped there in summer and from later settlers who held religious retreats on it. The estate winery followed in the late 1990s, and Camp Meeting Ridge remains the founding vineyard of the Flowers brand.

The Site

The ranch at 28500 Seaview Road sits on the seaward ridgeline, roughly two miles from the Pacific. State crop mapping traces about 33 acres of planted fields across the steep, fog-washed slopes. Elevations run from about 1,150 feet toward the ridge crest near 1,400 feet, above the persistent marine layer.

Vines and Blocks

Chardonnay and Pinot Noir divide the vineyard, planted in small blocks that follow the contours of the ridge. Sea View Ridge, a separate and higher vineyard on the Flowers Ranch property acquired in 1998, lies nearby.

The Wines

Camp Meeting Ridge fruit defined the early identity of coastal Flowers wines: taut Chardonnay and red-fruited, cool-toned Pinot Noir with the acidity of a true maritime site.