More and more wineries are looking more and more like minifarms, with boutique or support products ranging from olive oil and honey to fresh eggs — and even the occasional farm animal.
At Annadel Estate Winery the signature crop of course is the 10 acres of Bordeaux varietals. But if you follow your nose beyond the vineyards, it will lead you to a rare crop in Wine Country — 10 acres of field-grown roses that make their way in bunches to the San Francisco Flower Market and into the bouquets of brides who begin their married lives in the stone ruins of the 1880s Annadel Winery.
These are not your grocery store roses, bred and grown in greenhouses to withstand long journeys to market from south of the border. They are grown in Sonoma Valley soil, exposed to everything nature delivers.
The also are primarily David Austin roses, cult favorites among brides, high-end arrangers and gardeners. Distinctively English roses, they combine the form and fragrance of old roses with the repeat flowering of modern roses. The farm also grows some select miniroses, hybrid teas such as ‘Mojave’ and ‘Just Joey’ and popular florabundas like ‘Iceberg’ and ‘Gingersnap,’ as well as a few filler plants for bridal arrangements.
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