Don Ross had been a serious collector and consumer of fine wine for over thirty years when he and his wife Joann moved to a 2-acre property near St. Helena in January 2003. Their new home included a few rows of Cabernet Sauvignon (.75 rocky acres planted in 1996), a vineyard cottage (originally a stone barn built in 1921), a guesthouse and winery. Ron and Joann got to work remodeling and landscaping their spot on the knoll and when it came time to choose a wine name to reflect the beautifully simple life they’d created there, they thought of a book they had both loved many years back, “Shibumi”. The Japanese word Shibumi means ‘the pursuit of perfection through simplicity’ or ‘effortless perfection’. Shibumi Knoll Vineyards was the perfect fit.
Sadly, Don lost his battle to cancer in 2016, but his passion for wine and the Shibumi concept lives on in the wines of Shibumi Knoll.
Shibumi Knoll is located in the center of the Napa Valley, close the Napa River, on the alluvial fan of Mill Creek and is 80% rock. Thus Shibumi Knoll wines show the grace of Napa Valley with the structure that comes from stony hillside vineyards. Grapes are also sourced from Buena Tierra Vineyards, located on the Russian River in Sonoma county. Shibumi Knoll produces acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay under the care of David Abreu, Vineyard Manager and Thomas Rivers Brown, Winemaker.
