Ridgely Evers is the owner and winemaker at Davero Winery in Healdsburg, CA. He bought the “Home Farm” in 1982. He grew up in suburban Cleveland where — even though everything came either frozen or wrapped in plastic — he developed a real love for great food, and the land. When he first came to California in 1967, he knew it was where he wanted to live. And when he first saw the farm in 1982, he knew he’d found home. He’s had a long career in high-tech, but always in parallel with the farm, and it’s clear where his heart and passion are.
Today, in addition to leading DaVero, he is focused on sequestering carbon at scale by converting conventionally-farmed land to regenerative practices, and teaching others how to do so themselves.
Media Inquiries: DaVero Farms & Winery revers@davero.com | https://davero.com/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
Among the many things that set us apart, the most important is our focus on what I’ve come to refer to as the proven recipe for deliciousness:
• Grow varieties that have been proven to produce great wine in your climate (in our case, then, all Italian), because that means the plants themselves are in balance
• Focus on the health of the microbiology of the soil – its diversity and depth – by farming regeneratively (in our case, certified Organic, Biodynamic, and Regenerative)
• That combination produces balanced fruit that behaves beautifully on the crushpad, which means you can trust Nature to make the wine (native ferments; no adds except a touch of SO2 at bottling
Importantly, each of these is necessary, and only together are they sufficient to reliably deliver delicious wine.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
We would take what we’ve learned in our relatively high-cost setting, and create a brand to deliver equivalent results, without compromise, to the broad market at under $20/bottle in wine shops and grocery stores nationwide. We’re actively doing that, by the way.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
It’s really hard to choose just one wine out of the ~15 we produce. But if forced to choose, it would be Altobasso, a stand-out blend of Sangiovese and Barbera that defies tradition while respecting climate. It’s simply stunning, in a very refined and elegant way. Here’s Ridgely’s pride and job – Altobasso – wine review.
Bonus Question: What’s the one thing people would be surprised to learn about you?
I’m the guy who created QuickBooks, but have been a dirty-fingernails farmer in parallel with my tech career for over 30 years.