Frenchtown Farms

Aaron and Cara Mockrish live, farm, and make wines in Frenchtown, a rural community nestled in North Yuba, a tiny AVA at the North of the Sierra Foothills, northeast of San Francisco. They came with the intention of establishing a farm, but a bottle of Black Pearl by local winery Clos Saron sent them off on an unexpected path to winemaking. They discovered that Gideon Beinstock, who made the wine, lived near to their farm. They began spending time with Gideon, working in his vineyards and learning from him in the winery. In 2015 they leased eight hectares of old-vines in the area and Frenchtown Farms was born! Cara describes their farming as intuitive: "influenced by our own observations and hard lessons throughout each season. Our goal is to put our efforts, earth, wind and rain, emotional highs and lows, and all our love into every vine and every bottle". They use many organic practices, they don't till or treat with anything apart from sulphur, and do all the vineyard work themselves by hand, with the help of a few interns. Cara and Aaron are farmers at heart, and look at winemaking through a farming lens, they do a lot of co-ferments which they feel express a particular site over the grape variety. The wines are individual and alive, born from a curiosity and desire to learn about their place, and make the best wines they can from there.