Indian Peak Vineyards

About 3.5 hours north, northeast of San Francisco is the AVA of Manton, but if you’re in the area: stop!

Founded in 2014, Manton known for its dinural temperature swings and volcanic soils. A volcano is actually what brought us to the area: Lassen Volcanic National Park. We took a break from our hiking to do a bit of wine tasting but found only two wineries still remained—and only one was open on a weekday (even by appointment).

The tasting at Indian Peak Vineyards is $5 for a flight of four wines. We were super lucky to be able to taste with the winter maker and vineyard owner himself, Fred Boots. The tasting room reminded us of Ramey a decade ago; an air conditioned warehouse with distillation tanks in one corner, barrels in another and a table for tasting in the third.

We LOVED the Merlot (so much so we bought a case). I was expecting big and jammy but found the fruit well-balanced with the tannins and oak and suitable for aging. We also bought a half case of the Take Five - a clever name for their Bordeaux Blend. It was exactly what a blend should be, allowing the different varietals to shine and create a full symphony.

Unfortunately, Manton didn’t bounce back from the pandemic quite like Napa or Sonoma or even Livermore did. Indian Peak has AMAZING wines but are selling! So if you’re a (or an aspiring) winemaker, vineyard manager, business manager, marketer: please reach out. Their wines are AMAZING.