Foss Vineyard sits above Eastside Road in the Middle Reach of the Russian River Valley, on a site that was once a farm for hops, Herefords, and a particular breed of Sicilian miniature donkeys. Bill Foss found this ground after nearly 15 years of searching for the right place. He purchased it in 2005 and put the first vines in the ground in 2007, working from the start with vineyard managers Chris Bowland and Doug Lloyd.
Bill’s path to wine was not a straight line. It ran through Santa Cruz Mountain wineries in his youth, a meal at the Ritz in Paris in 1992 where a side-by-side of Domaine Romanée-Conti bottles convinced him that Pinot Noir was worth pursuing, and years of garage winemaking with a friend who happened to be an ardent Williams Selyem devotee. By the time Bill planted Foss Vineyard, he knew exactly what he was after.
The vineyard is planted to Pommard, Swan, Mt. Eden, and 667 clones on fine clay loam soils — well-drained, temperate, and well-suited to the kind of complexity that only comes from having the right mix of material to draw from. Foss Vineyard first appeared as a Williams Selyem single-vineyard designate in 2011, after several vintages as a component of the Eastside Road Neighbors blend. Bill and Becky Foss have built something worth designating.
