Bernardus Winery

Bernardus Winery is the most destination-resort-luxury and Carmel Valley Bordeaux blend-specifically-committed wine estate in Monterey County. Ben Pon — the Dutch businessman who imported Volkswagen to the Netherlands in the 1950s and created the Porsche 914 sports car concept — purchased his Carmel Valley estate with the same entrepreneurial conviction and European quality standard he had applied to the automotive industry, establishing the Bernardus Lodge & Spa as one of California's most acclaimed luxury resort properties alongside a serious Carmel Valley Bordeaux variety wine program.

The Bernardus Marinus proprietary Bordeaux blend — named for Ben Pon's most beloved Dutch estate property — represents the most ambitious and most critically recognized Carmel Valley Bordeaux blend produced from Carmel Valley's warm inland growing conditions that produce Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot of distinctively warm Monterey County inland character quite unlike the cool-maritime Salinas Valley and Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir and Chardonnay expressions that most Monterey County wine identity centers on.

Wine Advocate has consistently scored Marinus and Bernardus's estate Carmel Valley Cabernet Sauvignon at 92–96 points, while the Bernardus Lodge & Spa's award-winning culinary program and luxury overnight accommodations make every Bernardus winery appointment simultaneously a serious Carmel Valley Bordeaux wine education and the most destination-resort-hospitality-complete luxury wine estate experience in Monterey County.