About Maison Areion
Maison Areion is Nicolas Vonderheyden's label, made from Woodside's Chaine d'Or Vineyard at the northern end of the Santa Cruz Mountains. He has been winemaker and vineyard manager there for the best part of a decade, and the vineyard itself was first planted in 1987.
The French connection is real rather than decorative. Vonderheyden was born in the United States but raised in France; his parents imported and distributed wine on the East Coast in the 1980s, and the family had a vineyard in Margaux, outside Bordeaux, until his uncle died in the early 1990s.
The wines are built to be drunk with food, which is the whole brief. Cool Pacific fog holds acidity in the fruit, and he argues that acidity is exactly what American food, often a touch sweeter, needs alongside it.
He is also refreshingly unwilling to hand out tasting notes, on the grounds that everyone tastes differently. Ask him what to eat with a bottle instead and he will tell you: grilled chicken, smoked salmon or a pear salad with the Chardonnay.
A Margaux family background, a 1987 Woodside vineyard, and wines built for the dinner table.
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Chaine d'Or fruitOne vineyard, planted 1987, farmed by the same person who makes the wine.
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Genuinely food-firstHigh natural acidity kept by Pacific fog, with pairings offered instead of tasting notes.
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A French winemaking lineageRaised in France, with a family vineyard in Margaux behind him.
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Northern end of the appellationWoodside sits well north of the Santa Cruz clusters, pairing naturally with Thomas Fogarty or Portola Valley.
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Small and personalTasting is by appointment, so a visit means time with the person who farmed the fruit.
"Woodside's most French winery, and the one most likely to ask what you are cooking."
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Current Releases
Wines change with each vintage
For an accurate list of current-release wines and library bottlings from Maison Areion, please check the winery'Santa Cruz Mountains producers typically rotate vintages and offerings seasonally.
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Tasting
Maison Areion has not published a current tasting menu or pricing that we have been able to verify. Check the winery website for what is being poured and what it costs before you visit.
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