Bydand Wines. The inaugural vintage of BYDAND was in 2014, founded by winemaker Colin Gordon. The winemaking is overseen by three individuals: Gordon, Tim Beranek and Adam Holt. The brand started out in Sonoma County focusing on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. In 2018 the Gordon family purchased a 20 acre site in Coombsville which was already planted to grapes. This became the source for their Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2021, a neighboring 22 acre parcel was sold to the Gordon’s by Don and DeeDee Sodaro, founders of Sodoro Estate; see our notes at the end of this review for more information about previous ownership.
Coombsville is one of 17 sub appellations within Napa Valley; it is located mere minutes east of the town of Napa. This region tends to be cooler and receives a bit more fog than up valley although during particularly hot spells, the temperatures can reach well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Coombsville features many growers, but few wineries. At our last count, we came up with 12 bonded wineries in the appellation.
The BYDAND property is planted to 11 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, clones 4, 7, 8, 15, 169 and 337, 4.5 acres of Merlot, the oldest vines on site dating back to 1990, 3.5 acres of Cabernet Franc and 2 small blocks of Petit Verdot and Malbec. Not only do they have varietal diversity but also clonal diversity among the blocks. They began farming their original parcel organically in 2021 followed by transitioning to organic farming of the former Sodaro estate in 2022. Some of the grapes used to be sold to Stags’ Leap Winery who bottled a Coombsville Merlot from the property. Today they use most of the grapes for BYDAND but still sell a small portion.
The property is managed by Mike Wolf Vineyard Management Company; Mike Wolf retired and sold his business to Domenick Bianco, former head viticulturist for Joseph Phelps’ properties in both Napa Valley and Sonoma County. Bianco was already working with Wolf prior to the sale of the company.
The vineyards wrap around several sides of the property including along the main driveway leading up to the property. For a relatively small vineyard, there is a surprising number of exposures with vines facing all directions. The vineyard topography is both hillside and on flat ground. Their hillside vines are planted on volcanic compressed ash rock called tufa. If one picks up a dry piece of tufa from their property it will generally be quite light and chalky. Other soils on site are from ancient marine and alluvial deposits.
Visually the estate feels like it could be in Tuscany, with the Italian villa and gorgeous views looking out over rolling hillsides covered with vineyards. Views from their property looking south are especially mesmerizing, offering panoramic vistas over the heart of Coombsville. Nearby vineyard neighbors include Meteor, Rewa, several properties owned by Far Niente including for their Dolce wine and Farella.
The name Bydand means enduring and remaining; it is Scottish word Gordon family crest and motto, old Scotts from the highlands. An appropriate word to describe.
The approximately 6,000 square foot wine cave was designed by winemaker Dawnine Dyer. While BYDAND uses the cave and the winery entirely for their operations, these spaces used to host several custom crush clients including Ilsley Vineyards and Denis Malbec used to also produce wine here. BYDANDS cellar operations are efficient including a sorting table hooked into a de-stemmer which is in use during harvest outside on the crush pad. A mid-sized EUROPRESS is used for pressing as needed. New tanks should be installed within the cave in time for the 2025 harvest.
Colin grew up on east coast with a family who enjoyed wines, particular European wines. Introduced to wines through family. While in college, one of his friends mentioned she owned a winery in Sonoma County. He said, “wow that’s incredible, I love wine, can I work for your family”. She said yes – this was Landmark in Sonoma Valley. He worked his first harvest there in 2009; their enology intern left during harvest so he found himself learning wine chemistry and spending time in their lab. And while at Landmark he accompanied their winemaker to Kosta Brown numerous times for various reasons. He worked at Kosta Brown for the 2010 harvest and is where he met Beranek. Then he moved to Santa Cruz in Chile’s Colchagua Valley for two years and worked at Viña Estampa, a medium size winery exporting primarily to Asia and Europe. In 2013 he began working for winemakers Thomas Rivers Brown and John Giannini at Outpost and later at Mending Wall.
BYDAND does not produce high extracted, over ripe and opulent wines. They source from specific vineyards for bright acidity and always age the wines with a judicious use of oak. The BYDAND wines showcase continuity and integration right out of the gate; balanced wines from the get go will remain balanced as they age. These wines are meant to be enjoyed with food, family and friends and are not meant to be exclusive. We like that. For example, we know how much effort and years goes into acquiring appointments at several highly exclusive wineries in this valley (some 10-15 years we have been working on securing appointments). And they over deliver on the price to quality ratio.
Select Wines
Whites
The 2021 Bydand Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is medium to deep gold in color; the bouquet offers aromas of honeysuckle, a light nutty note similar to lightly toasted almond, dried walnut husk, a minerality component, peach, pear, apricot and a note of vanilla. On the palate there is a perceived sweetness (bone dry) with flavors of orchard fruits including apricot, peach and nectarine along with a note of ripe mango. The mouth feel is a highly attractive attribute of this bottling; it sports a creamy, velvety and rounded texture which glides across the palate as smoothly as Kristi Yamaguchi rounding a turn at an ice arena. This wine has depth, texture and liveliness without being oaky or buttery or linear. It drinks very well by itself.
BYDAND has produced Chardonnay since 2015 from Roberts Road Vineyard in the Petaluma Gap owned by the Sangiacomo family. Impressed with quality of grapes since day one they have never desired any other vineyard sources. The 2021 BYDAND Chardonnay was barrel fermented in 25% new French oak with the remainder in neutral oak. After 12 months the wine was racked into stainless barrels for another 6 months; it was racked three times and left on the gross lees right up until the final racking. With all their wines, but this one in particular they try to achieve full integration which equates to balance but also a freshness.
The 2015 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is deep golden in color; the aromas showcase a minerality attribute that we also noticed in the 2021 vintage, a honeyed note including honeycomb, toasted almond, orchard fruits including apricot, peach, and yellow nectarine and caramel. Its holding its fruit extremely well 9 years post vintage at the time of our tasting. On the palate there are flavors of ripe yellow peach, apricot, creme Brule, caramel, and ripe mango. Its texture is supple and supported by a brightness. The finish lingers with loads of fruit accompanied by a hazelnut character. This is a great example of the age worthiness of their Chardonnays. We recommend purchasing a number of bottles to both enjoying in its youth but also to be richly richly rewarded if you can cellar these for some years. This bottling is still fresh and firmly driven by its fruit.
Reds
In 2014 they produced their first Pinot Noir from Sebastopol Hills in Sonoma County. Unlike for their Chardonnay, their vineyard sources have evolved for Pinot Noir but remain in that part of Sonoma County. Eventually they would like to acquire an estate vineyard in the Russian River Valley.
The 2019 Bydand Russian River Pinot Noir is pale ruby in color; the bouquet showcases expressive characteristics and also a varietal typicity. The aromas are more focused on varietal fruit attributes rather than the sometimes spicy or earthy notes sometimes presented by this variety. It offers aromas of cherry cola, a light hint of root beer, raspberry, red plum and red cherry and a hint of white pepper deeper in the bouquet. And like the bouquet, the palate is equally focused on its fruit including flavors of cherry, red plum and dark raspberry with a note of root beer. This wine offers an intensity of flavor but a simultaneous balance both in terms of its accompanying acidity and texture. The mouth feel is supple with rounded seamless integrated tannins. Pair with a patio, a pool and a warm summer evening. Or in terms of food, we could see enjoying this with BBQ pork baby back ribs.
The 2022 Bydand Cabernet Sauvignon, Coombsville is always led by Cabernet Sauvignon with either Merlot or Cabernet Franc in the blend, generally 8-10%; this vintage is blended with Merlot. This wine is deep ruby in color; it sports a fruit driven bouquet, the aromas immediately show the Coombsville freshness but also a ripeness, but not an overripens and that is an important distinction. The bouquet sports aromas of plum, fig, boysenberry, Persian mulberry and some floral notes including lilac. Bright and balanced, on the palate there are flavors of red plum, cherries, dark raspberry, boysenberries (which its important to mention were developed in Coombsville) and blackberry. The finish lingers lively with loads of fruit, a note of dried tobacco leaf and finely woven tannins sporting a lightly grainy and subtle dusty character. Both fruit and texture parallel each other on the extended finish with neither one immediately giving way. This wine spent 22 months in French oak with about 40-45% in new barrels. And like their other wines, the focus here is on integrating oak with the wine to complement the purity of the grapes. Very balanced.
2022 was a vintage that experienced plenty of rain, alleviating drought conditions from prior years. It was also a year that experienced a significant and prolonged heat spike centered around Labor Day Weekend. We remember driving through Carneros with the windows down and our thermometer showing 117 degrees Fahrenheit. The grapes had not yet reached physiological ripeness on the property, so these grapes remained on the vines through the heat spike. Hand sorting was particularly important this year to ensure a high quality. And they received one of the highest compliments from one of the brands they sell to: this brand mentioned that the BYDAND grapes were in the best shape of any of the vineyards they purchased grapes form that year.
The 2021 Bydand Red Wine is a blend of 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon; this wine is always led by Merlot. The grapes for this wine are sourced from their oldest vines on the property planted to wide row spacing, with total yields around 2.5 tons per acre. This wine is deep ruby; layered in terms of its fruit aromatics, these include Santa Rosa plum, cherry, Pakistani mulberry, blood orange and milk chocolate. Very much fruit driven on the palate with flavors of blackberry, blueberry, boysenberry and mulberry. This wine is a refreshing take on a balanced Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The tannins are finely polished and linger seamless on the fruit filled finish with flavor outlasting texture at this age. For reference, we tasted this wine three years post vintage.
And in terms of their estate wines, we have noticed a binding textural thread between the wines that Sodaro Estate made from the property and the wines produced by BYDAND. This site does not produce robust tannins – even during ‘big’ years. For example, we remember the 2013 Sodaro Estate Felicity was highly approachable in its youth, contrary to many red wines from 2013 in Napa Valley which we would describe as being ‘masculine’ and somewhat disjointed upon release.
—
The label is clean, simple, stands out and reflects the family heritage. They wanted something that felt classic old world but simultaneously presented itself in a contemporary way. All labels are either green or blue reflecting their family colors.
Visits are for those interested in purchasing wines, enjoying a picturesque property and hopefully making new friends before you leave. A special small terrace located near the entrance to the cave offers exceptional views. Weather permitting, wine tasting from this overlook is the quintessential personalized private Napa wine tasting experience. From here you will also see an old stone winery through the trees on the opposite hillside. The Sodaro’s used this facility for their first crush before their cave was finished. Weather permitting, guests can take a walk-through part of their vineyard and then end the tour with a sit down tasting either outside on the terrace or inside the cave.
Total annual production is approximately 5,000 cases. While most of their wines are sold direct to consumer, they maintain limited distribution in Florida, Texas, Georgia and Illinois. They have built the brand slowly and organically. For more information, to schedule a tasting or to join the mailing list, visit: www.bydandwines.com
Sodaro Estate Winery
We keep our notes here for historical reference. This winery was founded by Don and Felicity (Deedee) Sodaro, long time Southern California residents who both are passionate about wine. Don was involved with the hospitality industry for many years having founded Santa Ana based Sixpence Inns of America (which sold to Motel 6 in 1988) and served as CEO of Hanford Hotels Inc.
His family’s wine heritage begins in Sicily, Italy in the 1880s where Don’s direct descendant Giuseppe Sodaro was a wine barrel maker. Eventually Giuseppe came to the USA after enduring a terrible drought which destroyed vineyards and effectively his career in Italy. Three generations later, Don has revived his family’s wine heritage. Don and Deedee purchased land in 1998, planted vineyards and produced their first commercial vintage in 2003, merely several years after the grapes were planted.
Founding winemakers Dawnine and Bill Dyer made the wines from 1998 through 2013. Their total production used to vary dramatically based on vintage. All their wines were estate; they used to produce a Bordeaux red blend, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and a wine called Doti. Don was friends with Dr. Jim Doti, a Professor and President Emeritus of Chapman University in Southern California. In honor of their friendship, Sodaro Estate produced several vintages of the Doti – Sodaro Estate Cabernet Sauvignon with a portion of the sales of this wine donated to the Chapman Scholarship Fund.
Leave a Reply