Our Story

Lindsay and Greg first met in 2001 in Glasgow, Scotland, and quickly discovered a shared love of wine.
After marrying and moving to Lindsay’s home state of California, they began making wine in 2011 in a tiny
Berkeley garage, using bins as fermenters, a hand-crank Marchisio press, and a Portuguese floor corker.

In 2016, they had the chance to move to Sonoma Wine Country with the dream of one day opening a small winery.
Fourteen months later they lost their home and much of their young vineyard in the 2017 wildfires. Leaning into
that dream rather than stepping back, they released the first vintage of Hamilton Family Wines in 2019. In 2021
they opened the tasting room in Kenwood, where they now welcome guests to share the wines and the place that
shaped them.

Meet the Hamilton team

Greg Hamilton

Proprietor

My first real job was with a wine merchant back in Scotland, where I fell in love with wine long
before I fell in love with Lindsay. When we moved to California, I brought that passion with me,
managing a winery tasting room in Southern California at 23. Life then took me through a winding path
in sales and marketing outside of wine, but the pull never went away. Hamilton Family Wines is the
dream I carried through those years, and I feel incredibly lucky to now be making wines I love with
that same beautiful Californian girl by my side.

Lindsay Hamilton

Proprietor

My first wine tasting was as a college student at UCSC, on a tour of a now-forgotten Gilroy winery.
I scraped together $35 for a bottle of red, which felt like a small fortune at the time, and shared
it with a cute boy from Scotland. That bottle set everything in motion. A few years later we were
making our first garage wine in Berkeley. The wine was terrible, but the dream was born. After moving
to the heart of Sonoma Valley, our mission for Hamilton Family Wines became very clear: make wines we
genuinely love, that are honest to this place, and that feel at home on real dinner tables.

Jess Wade

Consulting Winemaker

We are incredibly fortunate to work with Jess and his unique talents. A Sonoma native, he is quite
literally part of the terroir he coaxes into our wines. Jess shares our belief in letting the
vineyard speak, giving the fruit and the site every chance to express themselves with as little
intervention as possible. From thoughtful farming conversations to gentle handling in the cellar, he
brings a quiet intensity to the work that keeps our wines grounded, vibrant, and unmistakably Sonoma.

About Our Vineyards

Great wine starts with great fruit, which is why we partner with a small group of growers who farm sites
we trust. For each varietal we look for the right match: cooler pockets for Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir,
warmer exposures for Cabernet Sauvignon and Rhône varieties. We stay closely involved in how the vineyards
are farmed so the fruit arrives exactly where we want it. For the first time since we launched, all of
our fruit now comes from organically managed vineyards (though not all are certified), something we have
worked toward since the beginning. You will find the vineyard name and/or appellation on each bottle so
you know where every wine comes from.

We also directly farm two small vineyards: Hamilton Family Vineyard at our home in Kenwood, and McGraw
Vineyard in nearby Glen Ellen. Both are now farmed organically. Hamilton Family Vineyard is just over
1.5 acres, currently planted to Grenache. The 2017 wildfires badly damaged the site, and we replanted in
2018. Until now the fruit has gone entirely into our rosé; this year we hope to have enough for both rosé
and a Grenache Noir. McGraw Vineyard is planted to 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. It sits slightly above the
valley floor, catching the last light of the day while staying above the cooler night air that settles in
the lowest spots, giving us concentrated, energetic Cabernet from each vintage.