Founded in 1989 by Walt and Joan Flowers, who left the Pennsylvania flower business to pioneer viticulture on the Sonoma Coast. Their Camp Meeting Ridge and Sea View Ridge vineyards above 1,800 feet were considered too cold by most; they proved otherwise. Hosted at the House of Flowers in Healdsburg.
Walt and Joan Flowers were among the first to believe that the extreme ridges above the Sonoma Coast could produce serious Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Their Camp Meeting Ridge and Sea View Ridge estate vineyards, planted in the early 1990s at elevations above 1,800 feet, were considered too cold and marginal by most of the wine world. The wines proved otherwise. Flowers established the template for what Fort Ross-Seaview and the West Sonoma Coast could produce — restrained, mineral, and age-worthy — and remains one of the appellation's defining estates.
Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir — The cornerstone bottling; a fragrant, balanced expression of the far coast.
Camp Meeting Ridge Pinot Noir, Fort Ross-Seaview — From the founding estate vineyard at 1,400+ feet, focused and elegant.
Sea View Ridge Pinot Noir, Fort Ross-Seaview — A high-elevation, intensely mineral estate Pinot.
Moon Select Chardonnay — The flagship, built from the best Chardonnay parcels on the estate.
Sonoma Coast Chardonnay — A bright, coastal white of fresh acidity and minerality.
Founded in 1989 by Walt and Joan Flowers, who left the Pennsylvania wholesale flower business to pioneer viticulture on the far Sonoma Coast, Flowers was among the first to prove that world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay could come from the fog-shrouded ridges above the Pacific. The two original estate vineyards — Camp Meeting Ridge and Sea View Ridge — remain the core. The tasting program is hosted at the House of Flowers in Healdsburg, a design-forward hospitality space tucked in the gardens and redwoods on Westside Road. Three options: 60-minute Appellation Tasting pairs three Sonoma Coast wines with a seasonal cruditas & snack board; 90-minute Estate Tasting is focused on Camp Meeting Ridge and Sea View Ridge wines with chef-crafted food pairing bites; 90-minute Terroir Study ($150) adds library vintage Almar Chardonnay and Site Series bottlings. Reservations required, 21+, no pets (service animals welcome).
Has led the winemaking team at Flowers Vineyards & Winery since 2012, defining a more restrained, terroir-driven style for one of the founding estates of the extreme Sonoma Coast. Forthun farms organically across both estate properties — Camp Meeting Ridge (the original 1991 planting, two miles from the Pacific at 1,150 to 1,450 feet) and Sea View Ridge — with 100% native fermentation, hand harvesting, and minimal intervention in the cellar. Under her tenure, the program has shifted toward greater fruit purity and precision: less whole-cluster fermentation, less new oak, less maceration on the reds. Jeremy Seysses of Burgundy's Domaine Dujac consults on recent vintages, sharpening the wines further. Critical reception has followed: Decanter scored the 2023 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 93 points, noting its “intense saline throughline that crescendos at the finish.” Forthun describes Camp Meeting Ridge as “the Chardonnay estate” and Sea View Ridge as “the true home of Pinot Noir” — a distinction that has come to define the Flowers portfolio. The House of Flowers hospitality space on Westside Road in Healdsburg, opened in 2019, hosts the public-facing program in design-forward gardens surrounded by redwoods.
Walt and Joan Flowers were Pennsylvania nursery owners — plant people who built one of the country’s largest small-tree nurseries — before their love of Burgundy drew them west. In 1989 they bought 321 remote acres high on the northern Sonoma Coast, and beginning in 1991 planted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on the ridgetop they named Camp Meeting Ridge, less than two miles from the Pacific. As pioneers of the “extreme” Sonoma Coast, the Flowers proved world-class wine could come from these windswept ridges. Their estate, later joined by Sea View Ridge, is now owned by Huneeus Vintners, with their vision carried on by the winemaking team.
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Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir — The cornerstone bottling; a fragrant, balanced expression of the far coast.
Camp Meeting Ridge Pinot Noir, Fort Ross-Seaview — From the founding estate vineyard at 1,400+ feet, focused and elegant.
Sea View Ridge Pinot Noir, Fort Ross-Seaview — A high-elevation, intensely mineral estate Pinot.
Moon Select Chardonnay — The flagship, built from the best Chardonnay parcels on the estate.
Sonoma Coast Chardonnay — A bright, coastal white of fresh acidity and minerality.
Walt and Joan Flowers were among the first to believe that the extreme ridges above the Sonoma Coast could produce serious Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Their Camp Meeting Ridge and Sea View Ridge estate vineyards, planted in the early 1990s at elevations above 1,800 feet, were considered too cold and marginal by most of the wine world. The wines proved otherwise. Flowers established the template for what Fort Ross-Seaview and the West Sonoma Coast could produce — restrained, mineral, and age-worthy — and remains one of the appellation's defining estates.
Founded in 1989 by Walt and Joan Flowers, who left the Pennsylvania wholesale flower business to pioneer viticulture on the far Sonoma Coast, Flowers was among the first to prove that world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay could come from the fog-shrouded ridges above the Pacific. The two original estate vineyards — Camp Meeting Ridge and Sea View Ridge — remain the core. The tasting program is hosted at the House of Flowers in Healdsburg, a design-forward hospitality space tucked in the gardens and redwoods on Westside Road. Three options: 60-minute Appellation Tasting pairs three Sonoma Coast wines with a seasonal cruditas & snack board; 90-minute Estate Tasting is focused on Camp Meeting Ridge and Sea View Ridge wines with chef-crafted food pairing bites; 90-minute Terroir Study ($150) adds library vintage Almar Chardonnay and Site Series bottlings. Reservations required, 21+, no pets (service animals welcome).
Has led the winemaking team at Flowers Vineyards & Winery since 2012, defining a more restrained, terroir-driven style for one of the founding estates of the extreme Sonoma Coast. Forthun farms organically across both estate properties — Camp Meeting Ridge (the original 1991 planting, two miles from the Pacific at 1,150 to 1,450 feet) and Sea View Ridge — with 100% native fermentation, hand harvesting, and minimal intervention in the cellar. Under her tenure, the program has shifted toward greater fruit purity and precision: less whole-cluster fermentation, less new oak, less maceration on the reds. Jeremy Seysses of Burgundy's Domaine Dujac consults on recent vintages, sharpening the wines further. Critical reception has followed: Decanter scored the 2023 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 93 points, noting its “intense saline throughline that crescendos at the finish.” Forthun describes Camp Meeting Ridge as “the Chardonnay estate” and Sea View Ridge as “the true home of Pinot Noir” — a distinction that has come to define the Flowers portfolio. The House of Flowers hospitality space on Westside Road in Healdsburg, opened in 2019, hosts the public-facing program in design-forward gardens surrounded by redwoods.
Walt and Joan Flowers were Pennsylvania nursery owners — plant people who built one of the country’s largest small-tree nurseries — before their love of Burgundy drew them west. In 1989 they bought 321 remote acres high on the northern Sonoma Coast, and beginning in 1991 planted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on the ridgetop they named Camp Meeting Ridge, less than two miles from the Pacific. As pioneers of the “extreme” Sonoma Coast, the Flowers proved world-class wine could come from these windswept ridges. Their estate, later joined by Sea View Ridge, is now owned by Huneeus Vintners, with their vision carried on by the winemaking team.
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