If you ask someone who works in wine how they arrived where they are, chances are they’ll say they were searching for something meaningful in the day-to-day. Winemaker Gideon Beinstock is no exception. The San Francisco Chronicle writes, “Gideon […] was searching for something to believe in.” Originally from Israel, he spent time as an accomplished painter in Paris, where he says he "got the wine bug bad and did everything that a person could do without working in a winery. I befriended winemakers, drank wine, visited wineries.” An existential crisis brought him to Northern California, which led him to his 15-year tenure as winemaker at the acclaimed and notorious Renaissance Vineyard.

The Renaissance Vineyard was purchased in 1971 by Robert Earl Burton, a charismatic spiritual teacher, who founded the organization the Fellowship of Friends. In the heart of remote Yuba County outside of the tiny town of Oregon House, Gideon led the natural wine renaissance at Renaissance, and created a cult-following (pun intended) for his all natural, terroir driven wines. In 2006, Gideon left the Fellowship and started his own winery, Clos Saron, with his wife and business partner Saron Rice. Gideon and Saron relished how different the Clos Saron property was from Renaissance. At Renaissance, big red varieties like Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah thrived in the warmer, higher elevation climate, but at their new property Pinot Noir was king. Lower elevation, and soils full of red clay and volcanic ash exposed Pinot Noir in its pure glory. Taste these two wines of Gideon’s - the first, 1998 ‘Taken from Granite’ Cabernet blend from Renaissance; the second, 2015 Clos Saron ‘Home Vineyard’ Pinot Noir. Experience the rich Californian history in both of these rare bottles and indulge in the natural expression of Gideon’s spiritual wines.