Brice Cutrer Jones, a fighter pilot turned Harvard MBA, founded Sonoma-Cutrer in 1973 as a Chardonnay house in Windsor. The estate has had three Directors of Winemaking, with Cara Morrison the first woman since the 1981 vintage. The tasting room closed in 2025, but the wines continue through Club Cutrer.
Brice Cutrer Jones founded Sonoma-Cutrer in 1973 as a vineyard company, focused from the start on Chardonnay alone — a singular varietal commitment that was unusual for its era. The first wine was released in 1981 from the Cutrer Vineyard, and Jones spent the following two decades amassing more than 1,000 acres of Chardonnay across Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast. The winery introduced double-sort and the cool, slow gravity-fed system that became industry standard; it was famously distributed only to restaurants in its early years, building a wine-list reputation that retail couldn't replicate. Brown-Forman acquired 80% of the brand in 1999 for $125 million.
Russian River Ranches Chardonnay — The flagship; for over 25 years the top-selling Chardonnay in American fine-dining restaurants.
Les Pierres Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast — A stony, mineral-driven single-vineyard Chardonnay built to age.
The Cutrer Chardonnay, Russian River Valley — Richer and rounder; the estate's namesake bottling.
Founders Reserve Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley — The top-tier Pinot, classic in style with red berry and savory spice.
Vine Hill Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley — A single-vineyard Pinot from the estate's Vine Hill ranch.
Pinot Noir joined the program in 2002 with the same single-variety discipline. The winery has had only three Directors of Winemaking across its 40-year history — Bill Bonetti (1981–1990), Terry Adams (1991–2010), and Mick Schroeter (2010–2023) — a continuity of style unusual in the industry. Cara Morrison, who served as Chardonnay Winemaker since 2005, succeeded Schroeter in 2023 as the first female Director of Winemaking in the winery's history; Pinot Noir winemaker Zidanelia Arcidiacono was promoted to Senior Winemaker. Duckhorn Portfolio acquired Sonoma-Cutrer from Brown-Forman in 2023 for $400 million, and in May 2025 closed the Windsor tasting room in a portfolio-wide consolidation of hospitality. The wines themselves carry on undiminished — Sonoma-Cutrer remains one of Duckhorn's priority brands, with production continuing at the Slusser Road estate, national distribution, and membership through Club Cutrer. One of Sonoma's most prestigious Chardonnay houses is now experienced by the bottle rather than the visit.
A San Jose native, Cara Morrison arrived at UC Davis as a pre-med student and changed course the day she sat in on an introductory winemaking class, ultimately earning a degree in fermentation science and making her first vintage in 1995. She studied techniques across Europe — Burgundy, the Rhône, Bordeaux, Champagne, and the Loire — before joining Jekel Vineyards in 1998 and taking charge of white wines at Fetzer in 2000. The food-friendly, balanced style of Sonoma-Cutrer's Chardonnay drew her to the estate in 2005, where she immersed herself in its classic Burgundian approach. In 2023 she was named Director of Winemaking, the first woman to hold the role in the winery's forty-plus-year history. Known for running some twenty Chardonnay experiments each harvest, she oversees both the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir programs.
A fourth-generation Napa grape grower, David Perata grew up among the vines and earned a degree in viticulture from UC Davis before building a career managing some of California’s most respected vineyards — estate sites for Stag’s Leap, redevelopment work for Estancia in Alexander Valley, and the North Coast holdings of Franciscan Estates. He joined Sonoma-Cutrer and stepped into the role of vice president and general manager, helping guide the historic Chardonnay house — founded in 1981 and singularly devoted to Burgundian-style wines — across its six estate vineyards in the Russian River Valley.
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Russian River Ranches Chardonnay — The flagship; for over 25 years the top-selling Chardonnay in American fine-dining restaurants.
Les Pierres Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast — A stony, mineral-driven single-vineyard Chardonnay built to age.
The Cutrer Chardonnay, Russian River Valley — Richer and rounder; the estate's namesake bottling.
Founders Reserve Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley — The top-tier Pinot, classic in style with red berry and savory spice.
Vine Hill Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley — A single-vineyard Pinot from the estate's Vine Hill ranch.
Brice Cutrer Jones founded Sonoma-Cutrer in 1973 as a vineyard company, focused from the start on Chardonnay alone — a singular varietal commitment that was unusual for its era. The first wine was released in 1981 from the Cutrer Vineyard, and Jones spent the following two decades amassing more than 1,000 acres of Chardonnay across Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast. The winery introduced double-sort and the cool, slow gravity-fed system that became industry standard; it was famously distributed only to restaurants in its early years, building a wine-list reputation that retail couldn't replicate. Brown-Forman acquired 80% of the brand in 1999 for $125 million.
Pinot Noir joined the program in 2002 with the same single-variety discipline. The winery has had only three Directors of Winemaking across its 40-year history — Bill Bonetti (1981–1990), Terry Adams (1991–2010), and Mick Schroeter (2010–2023) — a continuity of style unusual in the industry. Cara Morrison, who served as Chardonnay Winemaker since 2005, succeeded Schroeter in 2023 as the first female Director of Winemaking in the winery's history; Pinot Noir winemaker Zidanelia Arcidiacono was promoted to Senior Winemaker. Duckhorn Portfolio acquired Sonoma-Cutrer from Brown-Forman in 2023 for $400 million, and in May 2025 closed the Windsor tasting room in a portfolio-wide consolidation of hospitality. The wines themselves carry on undiminished — Sonoma-Cutrer remains one of Duckhorn's priority brands, with production continuing at the Slusser Road estate, national distribution, and membership through Club Cutrer. One of Sonoma's most prestigious Chardonnay houses is now experienced by the bottle rather than the visit.
A San Jose native, Cara Morrison arrived at UC Davis as a pre-med student and changed course the day she sat in on an introductory winemaking class, ultimately earning a degree in fermentation science and making her first vintage in 1995. She studied techniques across Europe — Burgundy, the Rhône, Bordeaux, Champagne, and the Loire — before joining Jekel Vineyards in 1998 and taking charge of white wines at Fetzer in 2000. The food-friendly, balanced style of Sonoma-Cutrer's Chardonnay drew her to the estate in 2005, where she immersed herself in its classic Burgundian approach. In 2023 she was named Director of Winemaking, the first woman to hold the role in the winery's forty-plus-year history. Known for running some twenty Chardonnay experiments each harvest, she oversees both the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir programs.
A fourth-generation Napa grape grower, David Perata grew up among the vines and earned a degree in viticulture from UC Davis before building a career managing some of California’s most respected vineyards — estate sites for Stag’s Leap, redevelopment work for Estancia in Alexander Valley, and the North Coast holdings of Franciscan Estates. He joined Sonoma-Cutrer and stepped into the role of vice president and general manager, helping guide the historic Chardonnay house — founded in 1981 and singularly devoted to Burgundian-style wines — across its six estate vineyards in the Russian River Valley.
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