Spring Wine Weekend with Round Pond Estate
To really breathe, great Napa wine needs Montana air.
March 15–17, 2019
The first buds to benefit when Montana’s spring approaches are taste buds. Yours. Come discover the bounties of Napa Valley’s Round Pond Estate and those of Montana as wine and cuisine come together beautifully on one table.
Joining us for this exceptional wine weekend will be Diane Cline, Round Pond’s national and international director of sales. Her wine pairings—some of Napa’s most-coveted Cabernet Sauvignons among them—will complement one-of-a-kind, seasonal tastes crafted by Paws Up Executive Chef Sunny Jin.
You’ll discover that Round Pond Estate is more than just a magnificent wine producer. The estate owners, the MacDonnell family, also produce top-shelf craft red wine vinegars, olive oils and fruit-flavored syrups. It’s all fodder for lively discussion. Besides hosting tastings and pairings, Cline will be happy to tell you how the MacDonnells pay tribute to their 350-acre estate vineyards by producing in sustainable ways in this world-renowned appellation—the Rutherford AVA.
Complete your wine weekend at Paws Up by seeing the Montana wilderness from the back of a horse or a speedy ATV or maybe even from a quiet terrace overlooking the Garnet Mountains. It’s a sneak preview of a Montana spring, one you’ll remember long after the lingering finish of Cabernet dissipates.
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Round Pond Estate is, at its core, a boutique winery par excellence. Their widely respected, ultra-premium Cabernet Sauvignon is a pure, expressive wine, just what you’d expect from the Napa Valley’s Rutherford AVA, known for its distinct flavors and unique natural riches. The MacDonnell family has been growing premium wine grapes here for over 40 years. It’s also home to other famous American vineyards and some of the most coveted Cabernet Sauvignon fruit. The Rutherford area is widely recognized as one of the great viticultural regions of the world.
The Round Pond Estate’s name comes from founder Bob MacDonnell’s recollections of a youth spent relaxing and camping at West Point’s Round Pond recreation area in New York. Originally envisioned as a serene family retreat, the MacDonnell family has lovingly cultivated the estate’s land, creating not only grapes for Round Pond’s own limited productions of amazing wines, but also top-shelf olive oils and red wine vinegars. Their deep respect for the land has led a second generation of the MacDonnell family, Miles and Ryan MacDonnell, to establish sustainable values, minimize chemical use and maximize soil retention as they strive to be wise land stewards of this prized land.
Today, they believe that the best wines are born in their own vineyards. Each wine is artfully crafted with old-world care and new-world innovation, often utilizing the talents of a team of winemakers—the uber-talented Aaron Robertson, Jamie Dowell and the legendary Thomas Rivers Brown, called “Napa’s Top Gun” by no less than Wine Spectator.
In 2012, we vinified a new series of wines exclusively from three unique gravel streaks running throughout our Rutherford and Oakville properties. Today, these designated superior vines—picked for their ability to yield powerful yet elegant wines—and superlative winemaking have come together in the Round Pond Gravel Series.
