North America | Mendocino, California | Idlewild
Idlewild
📸: Erik Castro
Wines
Summary
Idlewild is a small winery based in Healdsburg, CA that produces Piedmontese varietals grown in the elevated hills of Mendocino County. It is owned and operated by Sam Bilbro, a fourth generation California winemaker. While Idlewild was founded in 2012, the true beginning was Sam’s childhood. His early years were spent walking vineyards and hanging out in a winery converted from an old cattle barn with his Dad (Chris Bilbro of Marietta Cellars). Like his Dad, Sam isn’t formally trained; instead, winemaking comes from taste, heart, and intuition. Memories of doing pump-overs while his Dad cooked a dinner of foraged porcini then sitting on a tailgate eating crusty bread and a pile of salami. These memories are the basis for Idlewild.
Despite a childhood spent surrounded by gardens, vines, smells of the cellar, and family, Sam was sure that none of this was the life he was after. Instead, the road went in a different direction towards music (specifically playing guitar in a small punk rock band). Often, the music industry and restaurant industry overlap, and Sam found himself once again surrounded by food and wine. This time, the focus was on areas outside of California. Eventually the day came when a Barbaresco ended up in the line-up, and it was love at first smell and taste. The contrasts of delicate floral tones against the depth of rust and tar and bright acid against firm structure were so haunting, different, and delicious. In 2006, Sam moved back to Sonoma County and began his career working for other wineries, including a few years with his brothers and Dad at Marietta Cellars. The whole time, nights were spent dreaming of Nebbiolo. Convinced that the right location for Piedmontese varieties in the New World was some place far away, he studied maps, soil surveys, and temperature charts for various spots ranging from the Sierra Foothills to Southern Oregon to Walla Walla to Santa Barbara. But once again, the answer was close to home. Just forty-five minutes north into the hills of Mendocino County, the answer was waiting where the warmth of the central valley collides with the fog and cool breezes of the Pacific as they roll over their respective East and West ridges. Fox Hill Vineyard is home to various Italian varieties, but the upper blocks that use elevation as a key feature are planted to mature Arneis, Cortese, Dolcetto, Barbera, and Nebbiolo. Finding Fox Hill led to leaving Marietta Cellars, starting Idlewild, and beginning the next chapter.
