Rod Strong was among the first modern wine pioneers with a vision to plant pinot noir in the Russian River Valley. In 1968 he planted our heritage River East Vineyard in the alluvial clay-loam soils adjacent to the winery in Healdsburg. Today the Russian River Valley is well established as one of the premier pinot noir growing regions in the world, and we continue to rely on the original River East Vineyard as a core contributor to our estate vineyard bottling.