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Posted - 06/02/2020 10:15am What it Takes to Sell a Wine Estate
Selling vineyards and wineries blends a business and a lifestyle that are growing in popularity
BY DIMA WILLIAMS  |  ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 19, 2020  |  MANSION GLOBAL

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On a Saturday morning in early fall, Stanley Mazor would gather friends to clip heavy, round grapes from the 1,000 vines that line a portion of his roughly 25-acre estate in Ashland, southern Oregon. In his retirement, Mr. Mazor, an engineer who co-invented the first microprocessor at Intel in the early ’70s, has tended to about a half-dozen grape varieties every year together with his wife. For them, it is a lifestyle, a hobby that pours some 300 bottles a vintage.

Harvest usually yields about 1,500 pounds of fruit, which Mazor would haul on his pickup truck to a winery some 15 minutes away from his property. The same day, his grapes would be mashed into a slush that, a month later, would flow into a barrel as young wine ready to age.

Life on the vineyard, “brings joy and glamour,” said Mazor, 78. “We enjoy sharing special wines with friends and donating wines for charitable events.”

Mr. Mazor working on his 25-acre estate in Ashland, southern Oregon.

Today, Mazor is selling his vineyard estate in Oregon’s wine-growing region. The property is known as Herbe II, an eight-bedroom, 9,400-square-foot chateau Mazor erected as a fine epitome of a French countryside mansion he and his wife visited in the late ’90s (known as “de l’Herbe”).

“We built it 20 years ago, and now at age 78 our needs are different then when I had just retired at age 62,” Mazor said.

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Asking nearly $4 million, Herbe II is one of several dozen luxury lifestyle vineyards that hit the U.S. market annually. Unlike large commercial wineries, this type of real estate centers around a way of life that, in recent years, has entranced Hollywood celebrities, tech entrepreneurs and high-net-worth professionals, among others. They all seek a slower routine, a connection to nature.

“It’s a bucket list item for some people,” said Kendra Ratcliff, a broker with Christie’s International Real Estate in both Oregon and Washington, where she specializes in wine properties.



Category - General
Posted - 08/28/2012 05:24pm Newly Minted Carneros 50k Case Winery Site

Have you been searching the Sonoma Carneros for an ideal winery site on or near a main highway? Maybe near other known wineries. If so, then have a look at this:

22097 Bonness Road is a 50,000 case permitted winery site complete with public tours and tasting, special events and approved plans for over 31,000 sf of winery production space, barrel storage, public tasting and hospitality. Neighbors include Robledo and Schug. Oh, did I also mention the 13.5 acres of new planted, high-density Pinot Noir (5.5 acres) 20 year old Chardonnay (7.5 acres)… or the 2,276 sf partially remodeled home with secluded and enclosed residential compound, pool, and lush gardens? A few pictures are worth more than a thousand of my words....

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The seller is flexible and would be open to reasonable partnership options, leasing the house or vines, if the buyer/partner is a reasonable sort of person. You want to call me on this one to go see it as there are large dogs…really, very large ones at that! They are  friendly, but can be intimidating...to say the least.

Call me.  I would be happy to show you around. 


Michael Crain  707-938-9899


Category - General
Posted - 08/28/2012 05:23pm Best Pinot Land Value in Russian River Valley Appellation
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If 35-acres of world class, Russian River Valley Appellation (AVA) Pinot Noir vineyard land is what you are looking for, then read on.

We have taken the mystery out of this site with information on soils from Dr. Paul Anamosa, PhD and a Climate Study from Mark Greenspan. This property is adjacent to Kendall Jackson’s Bloomfield Ranch, where they just substantially expanded their existing vineyard planted to Pinot Noir. They must like what they are seeing in that 4-year old vineyard.

The “Sebastopol Hills” area was once thought too cool for vineyards and was considered to be on the very edge of the climatic envelope. But as vintners have more recently understood, growing Pinot in cooler areas facilitates slower sugar development, allows more time for flavor to develop. The result is fully expressed flavors at lower alcohol levels.

This site is slightly warmer (degree days) than many of those very cool coastal vineyards growing top-rated Pinot Noir such as certain Freestone area vineyards and other well-known vineyards, even further west.

Slopes average 16%; Mapped as Steinbeck Sandy Loam Soils and the asking price includes a new well; AVA is Russian River Valley & Sonoma Coast; Zoning allows wineries.  The existing home is antiquated. With an asking price of just under $50,000 per acre ($49,875 per acre) and no residential improvement cost, we think this listing represents the best Pinot Land deal in the Russian River Valley Appellation.

Click Here to view more information about this property

I look forward to your call.

Michael Crain 707-938-9899