Megan and Hilary Cline, part of the 2nd-generation at Cline Family Cellars, are proud to announce their debut release of Gust Wines from the Petaluma Gap, California’s most exciting new wine appellation, recognized as one of the best AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) for growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah.

Owing to a mixture of foresight and luck, Megan and Hilary’s father, Fred Cline, planted vineyards in the Petaluma Gap in the late 1990s, before the area gained grape growing renown.  Megan and Hilary recognized the potential to produce cooler-climate wines from their family’s Petaluma Gap vineyards and wanted to lavish these sites with the attention they deserve, farming them at the highest level and making the most special wines possible. Thus, Gust was born in 2017.

“Many Petaluma Gap vineyards function in Burgundian-negociant style with various wineries sharing different sections, but we had the ability to pick and choose fruit from specific blocks, farming them exactly as we saw fit and dialing in the characters we were looking for” Megan stated.  “We recognized we had a huge opportunity to do something special.”

“We chose the name ‘Gust’ to convey the atmosphere of the Petaluma Gap, where, like clockwork, morning fog gives way to winds, but we also like to think that the name represents the energy of the new generation” Hilary said. 

The winemaker behind Gust Wines is Tom Gendall.  Tom worked for wineries in New Zealand and Germany before moving to California in 2011 and joining the Cline team in 2016. 

Together with Tom, Megan and Hilary identified two separate vineyards from their family’s acreage:  Catapult Vineyard and Diamond Pile Vineyard, to bring the distinct flavor and unique characteristics to the Gust Wines.

“Once we decided to focus on these vineyards, we submitted them to painstaking examination, grading every block according to a spreadsheet’s worth of factors” commented Tom Gendell.  “From there, we winnowed it down to that fruit whose sensory characteristics we most wanted to work with” he added.  “We’re combining two sites to create well-balanced, complex wines from a pair of eminently complementary sites” he said. 

With a distinct perspective as the second generation, Megan and Hilary have taken what they love about working with their family and their sustainable farming practice to produce age-worthy, site-specific expressions of the Petaluma Gap that convey their intentionality, detailed approach, and vision for Gust Wines.

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