Ron Rubin dreamed of a winery in 1971 as a UC Davis student. Forty years later he bought the Green Valley property, Goldridge soils in the coolest corner of Russian River Valley. Also known as River Road Family Vineyards, it's one of fewer than three dozen Certified B Corp wineries.
Ron Rubin spent forty years building up to this. He studied viticulture and enology at UC Davis in 1971, then spent four decades in the wholesale beverage business, including running Central Wholesale Liquor for twenty-two years and acquiring The Republic of Tea in 1994. In 2011, at age sixty-two, he finally bought his winery — a small estate in the Green Valley of Russian River Valley, a sub-AVA known for some of the coolest, foggiest growing conditions in California. The property is widely referred to under two names: The Rubin Family of Wines for the small-production estate label, and River Road Family Vineyards for the larger brand presence at retail.
Ron Rubin Russian River Valley Pinot Noir — Red cherry, cranberry, and allspice with sweet vanilla; soft, silky tannins and an elegant finish.
River Road Russian River Valley Pinot Noir — Tart cherry, rhubarb, and a hint of toasty oak; a value-driven, fruit-forward RRV classic.
River Road Reserve Chardonnay, Russian River Valley — Medium-bodied and creamy with lemon brûlée, vanilla, and dried pineapple.
Pinot Meunier, Russian River Valley — The estate's first Meunier; stainless-fermented and aged eight months in neutral oak.
Cabernet Sauvignon — Rounding out the estate range from the Green Valley winery.
Green Valley's Goldridge sandy loam, ocean-driven fog, and compressed growing season produce Pinot Noir and Chardonnay of unusual delicacy and acid drive. The estate farms sustainably and organically, with owl boxes for pest management, cover crops, drought-tolerant native landscaping, and solar energy throughout the operation. Rubin Family is a Certified B Corporation — one of approximately thirty-three worldwide — and Ron has poured the same stewardship instinct into civic life: founding the Trained for Saving Lives program (placing AED defibrillators in 450 California wineries with the American Red Cross and ZOLL Medical), funding the Ron Rubin Student Commons at Sonoma State University, serving as Board President of SSU's Wine Business Institute, and earning an honorary doctorate from Sonoma State in 2022.
Joe Freeman has been making Russian River Valley wine since 1997 and describes himself as an experimenter by nature. Raised in Wisconsin and Minnesota, he earned a B.S. in agriculture from the University of Minnesota in 1995, drawn to winemaking as the meeting point of his interests in chemistry, biology, and horticulture. He cut his teeth at Associated Vintage Group in Graton and the old-school Martini & Prati before being hired as winemaker at River Road Family Vineyards & Winery, and he has led winemaking for The Rubin Family of Wines since Ron Rubin acquired the Green Valley estate in 2011. A graduate of Sonoma State's Wine Business Institute, Freeman is known above all as a Chardonnay specialist, working closely with longtime collaborator and cooper Ed Morris across the portfolio.
Ron Rubin nursed a dream of owning a winery from his days studying viticulture and enology at UC Davis — a dream realized in 2011 when he acquired his Green Valley estate in the Russian River Valley. A five-decade beverage entrepreneur who built The Republic of Tea into a household name, Rubin brings the same “sip-by-sip” philosophy to wine, championing sustainability as a Certified B Corporation. His civic footprint runs deep: he founded the Trained for Saving Lives program that has placed AEDs in hundreds of wineries, and serves as board president of Sonoma State University’s Wine Business Institute.
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Ron Rubin Russian River Valley Pinot Noir — Red cherry, cranberry, and allspice with sweet vanilla; soft, silky tannins and an elegant finish.
River Road Russian River Valley Pinot Noir — Tart cherry, rhubarb, and a hint of toasty oak; a value-driven, fruit-forward RRV classic.
River Road Reserve Chardonnay, Russian River Valley — Medium-bodied and creamy with lemon brûlée, vanilla, and dried pineapple.
Pinot Meunier, Russian River Valley — The estate's first Meunier; stainless-fermented and aged eight months in neutral oak.
Cabernet Sauvignon — Rounding out the estate range from the Green Valley winery.
Ron Rubin spent forty years building up to this. He studied viticulture and enology at UC Davis in 1971, then spent four decades in the wholesale beverage business, including running Central Wholesale Liquor for twenty-two years and acquiring The Republic of Tea in 1994. In 2011, at age sixty-two, he finally bought his winery — a small estate in the Green Valley of Russian River Valley, a sub-AVA known for some of the coolest, foggiest growing conditions in California. The property is widely referred to under two names: The Rubin Family of Wines for the small-production estate label, and River Road Family Vineyards for the larger brand presence at retail.
Green Valley's Goldridge sandy loam, ocean-driven fog, and compressed growing season produce Pinot Noir and Chardonnay of unusual delicacy and acid drive. The estate farms sustainably and organically, with owl boxes for pest management, cover crops, drought-tolerant native landscaping, and solar energy throughout the operation. Rubin Family is a Certified B Corporation — one of approximately thirty-three worldwide — and Ron has poured the same stewardship instinct into civic life: founding the Trained for Saving Lives program (placing AED defibrillators in 450 California wineries with the American Red Cross and ZOLL Medical), funding the Ron Rubin Student Commons at Sonoma State University, serving as Board President of SSU's Wine Business Institute, and earning an honorary doctorate from Sonoma State in 2022.
Joe Freeman has been making Russian River Valley wine since 1997 and describes himself as an experimenter by nature. Raised in Wisconsin and Minnesota, he earned a B.S. in agriculture from the University of Minnesota in 1995, drawn to winemaking as the meeting point of his interests in chemistry, biology, and horticulture. He cut his teeth at Associated Vintage Group in Graton and the old-school Martini & Prati before being hired as winemaker at River Road Family Vineyards & Winery, and he has led winemaking for The Rubin Family of Wines since Ron Rubin acquired the Green Valley estate in 2011. A graduate of Sonoma State's Wine Business Institute, Freeman is known above all as a Chardonnay specialist, working closely with longtime collaborator and cooper Ed Morris across the portfolio.
Ron Rubin nursed a dream of owning a winery from his days studying viticulture and enology at UC Davis — a dream realized in 2011 when he acquired his Green Valley estate in the Russian River Valley. A five-decade beverage entrepreneur who built The Republic of Tea into a household name, Rubin brings the same “sip-by-sip” philosophy to wine, championing sustainability as a Certified B Corporation. His civic footprint runs deep: he founded the Trained for Saving Lives program that has placed AEDs in hundreds of wineries, and serves as board president of Sonoma State University’s Wine Business Institute.
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