Our Story

The story of Sonoma Valley winegrower Peter Haywood reads like a modern wine industry tale – except in reverse. After developing his well-known Haywood Winery brand during the 1980s, only to see it gobbled up by a succession of large wine companies, Haywood has regained control of the brand and its signature Zinfandels, which come from his acclaimed Los Chamizal Vineyards in Sonoma Valley.

Pioneering in Sonoma Valley
Peter Haywood grew up in Chicago, earned a political science degree from Stanford University and served in the Marine Corps. In the 1970s, he operated a San Francisco Bay Area construction and development company, however desired a more rural lifestyle and in 1973 Haywood purchased 280 acres of rugged hillside land a stone’s throw from the town of Sonoma in Sonoma Valley. Three years later, he planted 75 (of an eventual 90) acres to wine grapes and named the vineyard Los Chamizal, which in Spanish means “a thicket of hardwoods.” In 1980, Haywood purchased a small nearby winery, crushed his first grapes and began selling a selection of wines under the eponymous Haywood label.

Building, Losing and Regaining a Brand
Peter’s wines did well in the wine market, especially his estate-grown, vineyard-designated Zinfandels. But a sea of surplus California wine in the late 1980s made the wine business a risky financial proposition, especially for small wineries. In 1991, Haywood chose to sell his wine brand to Racke International, a German-owned company that also had acquired nearby Buena Vista Winery and the Robert Stembler Brand.

Haywood retained his Los Chamizal Vineyard property and continued to supervise production of its increasingly heralded Zinfandels. Simultaneously, Racke expanded production of a lower-priced Haywood Vintner’s Select tier, whose broad distribution introduced the brand to more people. In 2001, the Haywood brand was acquired, along with the Buena Vista brand by the global wine and spirits conglomerate Allied Domecq, which sold it in 2005 to Beam Wine Estates. Beam in turn was purchased in 2007 by Constellation Brands, the world’s largest wine company. In early 2008, Haywood reacquired the brand from Beam Wine Estates, along with inventory from the 2005-2006 vintages.

During the 15 years that the Haywood brand moved from one corporate owner to another, its production facilities remained at Buena Vista winery with its acclaimed winemaking staff. Despite the fact that its focus and marketing programs changed frequently, the quality of the Los Chamizal Vineyard Zinfandels remained constant and consistently earned acclaim from leading industry publications.

Now that Peter Haywood has reacquired the Haywood brand, his plans are to focus only on the grapes grown within Los Chamizal’s unique mountain terroir. The emphasis will continue to be on his three estate Zinfandels, each possessing the unique character from the location wherein it was grown. Peter will continue selling the other grapes he grows on the estate –mainly red Bordeaux varieties – to other producers, and has recently added Primitivo and Cabernet Franc to his own portfolio.

“Retaking ownership of my brand enables me to again pursue the pleasure of making fine wine from grapes that I personally grow,” Haywood noted. “This is a special vineyard and one of the best for Zinfandel in California.” It is a rare opportunity to be able to continue with an effort that started more than 27 years ago.”


Los Chamizal
One of California’s most highly regarded Zinfandel vineyards, Los Chamizal is situated in the mountains of southern Sonoma Valley, one mile north of the town of Sonoma. Its beautifully terraced vines are carved into steeply sloping hillsides reaching 800 feet in elevation. The vineyard’s 42 acres of Zinfandel, grafted with budwood selections from seven North Coast vineyards pre-dating Prohibition are planted in nine distinct blocks with soils ranging from well-drained sandy clay loams at the lower elevations to thin, shallow, fractured basalt soils at the highest elevations. Most vines are head-trained in the old style and planted on St. George or 1103 Paulson rootstocks, which help keep average crop yields to 2-3 tons/per acre.

The vineyard has a moderately warm climate (a Region 11-111 in the UC Davis heat classification system), though the vines enjoy cooler evening air preserving higher acidity levels in their grapes. Haywood farms Los Chamizal sustainably, using permanent cover crops, compost and organic fertilizers to nurture the soil, and no insecticides. The grapes are harvested over a six-week period with individual sections of the vineyard often picked more than once.

The Wines
Haywood produces three different Los Chamizal Zinfandels: Los Chamizal, Rocky Terrace, and Morning Sun.

Los Chamizal is a blend of fruit from all nine Zinfandel parcels, including the prized Rocky Terrace and Morning Sun blocks. As a result, its aromas and flavors broadly reflect the vineyard’s soils, elevations, and microclimates. With its concentrated spice and berry fruit flavors, Los Chamizal regularly earns plaudits from critics for its classic hillside Zinfandel character. Both the 2004 and 2005 vintages earned 90-plus scores from Wine Spectator. In fact, Wine Spectator writers Jim Laube and Tim Fish awarded the 2005 Los Chamizal 93 points and selected it among their 13 favorite Zinfandels of the 2005 vintage. Laube historically described Los Chamizal vineyards as “Great Zinfandel from a special site.”

Morning Sun is produced exclusively from a five-acre block planted on a gentle, east-facing slope with 15-degree angles that tilts the vineyard toward the first rays of the morning sun. The soil is a well-drained sandy loam that warms gradually during the morning hours yet escapes the most intense afternoon heat. The vines in Morning Sun were propagated from budwood selected from a 60-year-old Sonoma County vineyard, with some head-trained and others on a vertical trellis. The wine is softer and rounder than Haywood’s two other estate Zinfandels, still rich and full-bodied with intense red berry and spice flavors.

The pinnacle of the Haywood estate, both topographically and superior quality, is Rocky Terrace, a sloping 8-acre ridgetop block facing south and southeast at elevations between 700 and 800 feet. Rocky Terrace receives the full brunt – and benefit – of the intense afternoon sun. Its fractured basalt rock soil is very shallow – just six to 12 inches deep – forcing the vines to root deeply. It also provides the wine’s signature minerality, that adds elegance to its big, dense, layered black fruit flavors.

The Future

Haywood is now producing approximately 4,500 cases of estate-grown Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Primitivo, and Chardonnay; and has reclaimed its reputation as one of the leading Sonoma County producers. With an unwavering commitment to estate-grown, sustainable small-scale winemaking, the future looks bright.

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