Varner Wines Foxglove Cabernet Sauvignon

Bob and Jim Varner have been farming their own Spring Ridge vineyard in Portola Valley since 1980, focusing on a gentle, sustainable, and minimal‑intervention approach aimed at expressing purity, balance, and a strong sense of place. They use dry‑farming, no irrigation beyond natural rainfall, and maintain impoverished, unfertilized soils, which encourages deep root growth and concentrated fruit.

They avoid chemicals entirely, employing hand-hoeing and insect controls instead of synthetic herbicides or insecticides, and rely on manual labor for canopy work and pruning. All vineyard tasks, from pruning to harvest, are done by hand, with grapes picked in small lug boxes early in the morning to preserve freshness.

In their cellar, they continue this ethos. Indigenous yeasts handle fermentation, malolactic occurs naturally, and they practice light clarification with hand‑racking and gravity flow, avoiding fining and filtration. Sulfur is minimal, and the entire process is deliberately manual, promoting the purest expression of each vineyard block.

Together, these practices reflect a thoughtful, traditional approach: dry‑farmed, organically maintained vines, hand‑crafted cellar techniques, and minimal intervention, all designed to highlight terroir and clarity in their Cabernet Sauvignon and other wines