History
William McPherson Hill bought the ranch from General Mariano Vallejo in 1852 and planted vines imported from Peru, the first non-Mission grapes put in the ground in Sonoma. The vineyard fell into disrepair over the following century. Otto and Anne Teller bought it in 1981 and brought it back, and in 1992 Otto Teller donated the development rights to the Sonoma Land Trust, which means it can never be subdivided. The Bucklin family farms it, and the four Bucklin siblings founded their own winery in 2000. Joel Peterson began taking fruit for Ravenswood in 1984 and the relationship has continued under Once & Future.
The Site
A Sonoma Valley ranch on Highway 12 near Glen Ellen, dry-farmed, and certified as a historic vineyard by the Historic Vineyard Society. The Society's own language about it being among the oldest continuously producing vineyards in California is hedged, and it is worth repeating that way rather than flattening it into a superlative.
Vines and Blocks
A single interplanted field of many varieties, Zinfandel-led with mixed blacks and field whites tangled through the same rows, head-trained and picked together. Counting the varieties is a recurring parlour game and the published totals do not agree.
The Wines
Bucklin's Old Hill Ranch Ancient Field Blend is the estate wine. Bedrock and Once & Future bottle from it as well, and over the decades Joe Swan, Topolos, Mount Eden, Davis Bynum and others have taken fruit.