Winery Overview
Carol Shelton is widely cited as the most awarded winemaker in the United States. She has won countless medals for her wines and has been honored as Winemaker of the Year numerous times. After years of working with some of the industry’s top winemakers and wineries, Carol continues to win awards and accolades for premium Zinfandels produced under her own brand, Carol Shelton Wines. Carol was among the first women to graduate from UC Davis with a degree in enology. One of Carol’s projects at UC Davis on yeast strains proved that different strains produce different flavor characteristics in wine. This early knowledge of yeast strains reflects today in the delicious, full-flavored wine Carol produces. After graduating, Carol worked at renowned cellars and with industry giants like Andre Tchelistcheff and Robert Mondavi. In 1981, Carol began working at mid-sized winery in Sonoma County. During her 19-year stint as winemaker with this winery, Carol had the opportunity to bottle 45 different wines each year, ranging from sparkling to port, with Zinfandel coming up as her favorite wine time and time again. Zin’s unpretentiousness and range of flavors drew Carol further into the exploration of this varietal. This included making various Zinfandels from different growing regions and allowing the terroir to speak through the wine. In 2000 Carol and her husband Mitch Mackenzie, a former software engineer, launched their own brand – Carol Shelton Wines. Faced with the opportunity to create her own identity and focus on whatever varietals she wanted, Carol chose Zinfandel. Carol and Mitch have sought out exceptional vineyards throughout California including Dry Creek Valley, Rockpile, Russian River Valley, Fountaingrove District, Paso Robles, Lodi, Mendocino County, and the Cucamonga Valley of Southern California. Many of her vineyard sources are organically grown, dry farmed and many decades old. She develops close partnerships with each grower to ensure her wines maintain and express the unique terroir of the vineyard. Each of Carol’s wines receives its own whimsical, “memorable” name, echoing her love for words and wine. Her Wild Thing Zin denotes that the wine is produced only using the wild yeasts found on organically grown grapes. The Rocky Reserve is Carol’s nickname for the wonderful reserve Zin she makes from the Rockpile appellation, northwest of Healdsburg. Carol Shelton Wines produces 5000 cases a year, with distribution throughout the U.S. and internationally. With an eye to the future, Carol has added a few non-Zin varietals such as Chardonnay, Viognier, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, Petite Sirah and Pinot Noir for her Rosé.