About Gust

In the mid-1990s, half a decade after the Cline winery was established in Sonoma, our parents purchased another pair of properties partway to Petaluma. At the time, nobody was looking at this area for vineyard development – it was considered too cold. But having had success growing grapes in the chilly Carneros district, our father Fred planted a dozen different varieties: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, Merlot, Malbec, Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Mourvedre, Roussanne, Viognier, Pinot Gris, and Gewurztraminer.

Gaining access to these places was a big deal for our family. They gave rise to our happiest childhood memories: camping out, building forts, riding horses, running free. One of our brothers, Ramsey, built a catapult for our youngest sibling, Henry, who used it for launching pumpkins and watermelons. The place became a nucleus for us and our friends – a magical world of open spaces, not to mention a bracing outdoor environment. In most of the pictures from that era, we’re all wearing sweatshirts.

Not far away, the other property became the site of an organic farm, as well as a repository for Fred’s hoarding habits (a.k.a. sustainability instincts). To him old tractors, fruit crates, milk bottles, steel pipes, and whatever else you can think of represented diamonds in the rough. Before he buys anything new, first he goes there to sort through the piles and see what might come in handy.  

As time passed, the area that contains both of these places – celebrated today as the Petaluma Gap – became prized for cool-climate wine. At first Cline sold the Pinot and Chardonnay to other wineries, but the family was putting so much work into the farming that eventually we decided to vinify the grapes ourselves. Even as components in bigger blends, they were so good that they made an impact, contributing to 90+ point scores and becoming staples in our lineup.

When we got involved, we zeroed in on these vineyards: Catapult and Diamond Pile. We saw them as jewels in more ways than one: Arguably the best sites in the entire appellation, they were too special to be an afterthought or play a background role. Many Petaluma Gap vineyards function in a Burgundian-negociant style, with various wineries sharing different sections. But here we had the ability to pick and choose from each block, farming them exactly as we saw fit and dialing in the characters we wanted. It was a huge opportunity to do something special, and we agitated to set the sites apart, give them the care and attention they deserve, and take quality to the next level.