If you told me that I would get to spend a night drinking delicious wine, eating gourmet food under a blanket of stars on the top of a mountain with 100 other people, I would have said you’re dreaming! Except this wasn’t a dream, it actually happened and it’s a night I will never forget. Earlier this month, my husband and I drove to the top of a mountain in Petaluma, CA. It felt like the middle of nowhere, up narrow, windy roads with vast views of rolling hills. There were times when my husband and I looked at each other a little concerned. Where are we going? Is anyone around here at all? Fifteen minutes up the golden hills we made it to the Sophie James Estate. A hidden gem on top of the mountain where the Sophie James wine is made.
We were attending one of its Guest Chef Dinners, which offers a truly incredible experience for its wine members to eat a gourmet meal with the view of the pastel sunset while drinking bottomless cups of wine. It also offers a chance to spend the night after dinner in a Shelter Co. Tent overlooking the incredible mountaintop. So we got a babysitter and made a night of it!
I can’t decide which part of the night was my favorite, as each part delighted and surprised us. The food was incredible, the company was engaging and to celebrate a year milestone with Sophie and James was special. After dinner, when the sky became dark, the lights were turned off and we could see a blanket of stars above us. It was pretty magical.
I wanted you all to get to know Sophie James better so I asked Sophie a bunch of questions to learn more about the brand and their journey.
Photography by Emily Scott
James & Sophie
Tell us about Sophie James. What is your origin story?
James and I had our first date back in 2009 and the first thing he declared was that he wanted to become a rancher. As we fell further in love, James kept talking about why a ranch was so important to him. James was 29, and temporarily retired. He had recently moved back to California after spending 5 years in London. He started and sold a ticket marketplace business in the UK. While his business did very well, during his time in London, he desperately missed spending quality time with family and friends and an outdoor, sunshine-filled lifestyle. He did not enjoy spending all of his time behind a computer screen with no sunshine, beaches or mountains to escape to on the weekends. He dreamed of returning to California where he would have a country escape, close enough that anyone could spontaneously decide to come visit from San Francisco, and where everyone would partake in country-life activities and novel experiences together. He was convinced that a ranch was the answer to it all.
At the time, I was a stem cell scientist at University of California, San Francisco. I had spent a decade of studying life sciences and was working around the clock in the lab. Though I loved my research, I knew down deep that the pace I was going was not sustainable (nor was it something that was bringing out the best in me). At the time, I felt cornered into this career path though, after being pre-med and having spent so many years building on my career in science.
What was interesting was that James was at a crossroads in life, trying to figure out what was next for himself and I was, too. We began to dream together about all the possibilities of where life would take us.
James was 29 and I knew the guy was destined for more than an early retirement. He was starting to seem a little lost, so one Sunday morning, I said, “Let’s go find this ranch!” “Let’s do this!” At first, James looked at me like I was crazy but then a look of the most pure joy and happiness came across his face. We went home and went onto Zillow and started ranch hunting and within a couple of months, we found our mountaintop property and from that moment on, our life would never be the same.
See, we both knew we wanted this ranch, this adventure, this dream. But I had never wanted something like this before. I liked known quantities, but once we found this place, I knew that James I belonged here and I also knew that I was going to have to do something that I had never done before.
I knew I had to take a risk, and risk made me uncomfortable, but I knew that it was almost impossible to do something extraordinary without risk. So I didn’t listen to everyone telling me I was crazy to leave my job/career and move onto a mountaintop with my boyfriend. I knew it was time for me to take a dramatic leap of faith…and I chose to leave it all.
I chose to quit my job, give up my apartment and people called me crazy. “SOPHIE! You’re going to let go of everything you worked so hard for?” The answer was simple to me. This leap I was taking was not me betting on a dream. Instead, I bet that James’ and my love and our vision for bringing people together in nature would carry us through anything and our dreams would come true. I HAD FAITH.
See when James and I dreamed of moving to a ranch together, we were dreaming about so much more than becoming ranchers and wine makers. We were dreaming about having a shared purpose that made us happy. My career wasn’t making me truly happy, and James was looking for purpose after he had sold his company, but the magic wasn’t in our purpose as individuals. The magic is that we took this leap together—we left everything behind and it’s been this purpose that has weaved our love so tight that nothing could break it.
And now, as we look at our TRIBE, we see that our purpose has now bloomed because now our purpose is to share this magical mountaintop with you all. To share our wine, to encourage you to hit that internal pause button and just be, to feel the difference James and I have felt for so many years up here.
The property is incredible. Tell everyone how you found it and the story behind it.
We were looking for a property that was one hour from San Francisco, so friends and family could spontaneously come visit. We also were looking for a property that had privacy, so that it would feel like an escape. These were the need-to-haves. The like-to-haves were: we would like there to be a house, we would like modern architecture, we would like a pond or a lake, we would like to be in a district that’s good for growing wine grapes (especially pinot noir), we would like to be located next to a state or national park, we would like the property to have an interesting historical context, and last but not least, we would like to have good views.
James had set up filters on some of the popular real estate websites, and couldn’t believe that this property had everything on both of our lists.
Favorite quote?
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” —T.S. Eliot
This quote really resonated with me. There have been many times during our journey that I have felt like I have gone too far—that it was all just too much. I sometimes missed having a more simple life, but what I have realized is that now I am so proud of what we are building, I see my daughters expressing how proud they are of me, I hear my husband telling me how proud he is of me and I can’t help but feel pretty good about it all. I feel like all the hard work is finally paying off and we are doing something that we are not only proud of but that people love and that just feels good.
Happy 1 year anniversary! What have been the highs and lows of one year?
There are definitely more highs than low, but in summary, the high has been watching members of TRIBE come up to this mountaintop and be blown away by the beauty up here. It’s one of the most fulfilling experiences we have ever had. I see people fall in love with this place just as we have over the past 8 years and it feels right—this place is meant to be shared. The magic here is powerful and we feel so good about sharing that with people.
It was a huge high as we discovered, through working with others in the industry, that our property will reliably produce high-quality, distinctive wines.
It was also a huge high when the wait list to join the TRIBE first shot up into the hundreds.
The low came about 6 months ago. We launched Sophie James with just family and friends 1 year ago exactly and we made a wait list so we could slowly let people in and control growth so I wouldn’t get overwhelmed, but one side of my personality is that I’m a serious hustler and love to work hard and build things. So, all of a sudden, I was like sure we can grow to 100 members and then 120 members and then 200 members and then I was like, “Hey, I can do 300,” and before I knew it, I found myself running a company single-handedly and doing way more work than was meant for one person. I was proud as ever but feeling overwhelmed with balancing the wine company in parallel with my responsibilities of being the mom of 2-year-old and 4-year-old little girls. Meanwhile, James runs a tech company in San Francisco with 40 employees, so although we are partners in this, it became very clear that we needed to hire someone to help me, but this wasn’t simple either and there were a few months where I was in over my head and working non-stop. But we now have a team in place to help me and it is all good. I’m SO happy now because I have a great balance between days where I put my head down and work in our company and days where I’m with my girls. Obviously, it’s always a struggle to balance everything, but I feel incredibly lucky to be doing what I love while getting to be a mom at the same time.
So I didn’t listen to everyone telling me I was crazy to leave my job/career and move onto a mountaintop with my boyfriend. I knew it was time for me to take a dramatic leap of faith…and I chose to leave it all.
What can people expect from your wines?
Sonoma Mountain is an ancient volcano with very shallow topsoil and very rocky soil overall. Because it’s so rocky, the soils drain very well, which leads to smaller grape clusters. Also, it’s volcanic, so the soil is rich in nutrients and gives the wine incredible acidity. The extreme wind and sun thickens the skins. The combination of the volcanic soil, great drainage and thick skins leads to bright, concentrated flavors, with beautiful acidity. On a mountaintop, the growing season starts much later, with colder temperatures in spring than down below in the valley floors. The vineyards are at about 2,340 feet in elevation, much higher than the top of the fog bank, which averages around 1,700 feet high. When the fog rolls in, it pushes the warm air up, making it warmer above the fog, including at night. That, together with the extra sunshine above the fog in the morning, combine to allow our vineyard to reliably catch up in ripeness in time for harvest.
What is the real life of a wine maker?
Scott Schultz is our wine maker and we are beyond thrilled to have him making our wine. He has his own very successful wine label called Jolie-Laide (which I am personally pretty obsessed with). Scott is not only a wonderful human, but he is an incredibly talented winemaker that we are so lucky to have on our team. He is passionate about making great wine and he is just the best to work with. I read somewhere in an interview online that Scott said, ‘Anything good is worth taking a chance for.” I think he believes in hard work and good people and I would like to believe that he sees that in us.
How did you come up with the idea of these fabulous magical dinner parties?
Over the years, James and I naturally hosted a lot before we launched our wine company. I got really into cooking while we lived in the mountain full time and I became passionate about preparing food for our family and friends to enjoy with our wine. Our sunsets up on the mountaintop would always just blow everyone away. People would walk away feeling inspired and refreshed. It had always been a vision for James that our “ranch” had novel experiences for people and we realized that there are few things than bringing people together around a long table, eating together, on top of a mountain, surrounded by nature all while all while drinking wine from the very land you are sitting on. It is just so magical.
The Shelter Co. Tent experience is so special. How did you guys team up?
Oh, the Shelter Co. story is so cool! Way back in 2012, I came across Shelter Co. and I was immediately obsessed, and once I met Kelsey, I knew that this company was super special. I always had a vision for people glamping at our property because for years, my absolute favorite thing is waking up, walking outside to where James and I got married and watching the sunrise. Many days of the year, our mountaintop pops above the fog layer, so I have always been obsessed with watching the sunrise over Sonoma Valley while watching the fog below—there is nothing like it! I knew that combining dinner at sunset on the mountaintop, stargazing with our pinot and rosé before bed and then waking up to the sunrise above the fog was a winning combo, and as it turns out, people loved it just as I had always hoped for. Now that Kelsey is one of our members and we are working together, it really is a dream come true—she is as cool as they come and so is her company.
Tell us about tonight’s dinner. Who was the chef?
Tonight was a very special night as we are celebrating one year since we launched Sophie James with Arielle Giusto who is a badass female chef in Marin County who was also the chef for our launch. Arielle Giusto spent the past 5 years being the head chef at M.H. Bread and Butter, which is a bakery that happens to have amazing food and was opened by a master baker who worked at Tartine in San Francisco for 8 years. M.H. is not only my favorite place to eat but it is also my “office” where I work on Sophie James almost every day. I feel very bonded to the team there and especially Arielle because she believed in us before we had even launched and set the tone for our incredible mountaintop dinners by absolutely nailing our first one 12 months ago. Having her back is so special—she will have a special place in my heart forever.
Favorite Sophie James moment so far?
My favorite Sophie James memory so far is each and every time people try our wine and rave about it and love it. We hear all the time that our rosé is people’s favorite they have ever had. I honestly will never get over that. I also love it when people come to our property for the first time and freak out with how much they love it. I have seen people literally shriek with excitement because it is so beautiful. Another amazing moment was getting the chance to meet Alice Waters and when she tried and loved our rosé! She is a hero of mine so that was pretty amazing! One more great moment was that I have loved and admired Scribe Winery for years, and we recently saw Andrew and Adam Mariani. They both were so kind and they told me they were impressed with what we are doing. I have to say that meant a lot. As someone who loved to go to the wine country, I’ve always been so grateful for people who have visions and can create amazing experiences for people. Adam and Andrew do just that, so I am forever grateful to them for inspiring me and being so kind to us.
What is something fun on the horizon for you guys?
This December, we are doing a holiday pop up shopping experience on the mountaintop for “The Ladies of our TRIBE” featuring some of our favorite female run businesses like Frēda Salvador. We are going to make it super sexy and moody in the house with lots of candles, pinot and cheese boards. It’s going to be really special.
Why should people become members?
If people love wine and either feel a personal connection with our story or they simply wish to sip wine while connecting with nature on a mountaintop, then they should definitely join the Sophie James TRIBE.
You can learn more about Sophie James on its website.
Also, check out 5 Things You Should Know How To Cook Before Moving Out, or 7 Cozy + Stylish Balcony Ideas!
