The Moran Manor Story
A baby who wouldn't sleep began the Moran family sojourn into the wine business. As a two-year-old, John Moran was impossible to get to sleep. Like a lot of parents, we tried to cure him of this by taking him for long car rides. From San Francisco, those rides always went north into some of the prime wine-growing regions of the world.
One rainy Sunday and 90 minutes out of the City, we came upon a large white Victorian home in the middle of a beautiful valley we had never before visited. Even though the rain was coming down in sheets, the house stood out like a pearl in the oyster. We began exclaiming, "Wow!" and "look at that!" (We didn't have to worry about waking up John because he never did go to sleep.) When we reached the property, there was a large FOR SALE sign out front. The rest, as they say, is history.
We bought the house and the surrounding twelve acres and started two projects: the development of a small winery and the restoration of the house. John is now a teenager and has learned to fall asleep without the aid of long car rides.
Today, Moran Manor is a small family-owned vineyard located in Knights Valley - a stretch of heaven between Calistoga to the East and Alexander Valley to the West. The estate is owned and operated by us - Rich and Carol Moran and our four children.
Always fascinated by older homes, we bought the property in 1996 and set about restoring the old Holmes Mansion. As we did more research about the house and the property, we discovered that as early as 1870, there had been grapes growing on the property for the production of wine.
We asked ourselves, "Why not make the development a key part of our restoration?" As the other big vineyards in Knights Valley are Peter Michael and Beringer, we thought, "how much damage can we do sharing the same terroir with them?"
With the initial intent of making a Meritage or a Bordeaux-style blend, we planted a variety of red grape vines. Our vineyard now consists of approximately 65 percent Cabernet Sauvignon , 20 percent Merlot, 10 percent Cabernet Franc and 5 percent Petit Sirah vines. The vintage from the year 2000 was memorable in that we put a lot of effort into establishing the vineyard. We were learning. The 2001 vintage was productive, and while the grapes were tasty, they did not amount to much in volume. By 2002, we were moving in the right direction with enough juice to fill a few new French barrels, and the wine tasted great. So great, in fact, that it sold out to friends, family and our mailing list. We have a few bottles left in the library. The 2003 vintage is still available and meeting with grand reviews. It is a true blend with all the complexity, refinement and personality of a Meritage.
The making of any wine is done with a team. Ours includes our winemaker Tom Eddy, our Beringer neighbor and friend Steve Bell, and our miracle-worker Dan Hooven. And there are all of our friends who say they want to help but have no idea what they are really offering...
All of this is happening while we, the Moran family, are busy in all parts of the corporate and educational worlds.
We invite you to learn more about our activities in Knights Valley and our wine. Join our mailing list. We want to hear what you think of the wine too.
