Round Pond Winery

For decades, the MacDonnell family sold off their grapes to the best wineries in Napa. Places like Duckhorn, Honig, Robert Craig, Bressler, and  Vineyard 29 purchase their grapes to make some of the best Cabernets in Napa Valley.  Round Pond Estate, owned and operated today by the second generation of the MacDonnell family, is a Rutherford farm and winery that specializes in the creation of pure, expressive wines, artisan foods and unforgettable experiences—all from the heart of Napa Valley.

At Round Pond, they believe that excellence is achieved through a seamless blend of Old World traditions and state-of-the-art innovation. They walk the vineyards and orchards daily and carefully tend to our grape vines and olive trees. All of our fruit is organically or sustainably farmed and hand-harvested. By combining the best of the old with the best of the new, Round Pond strives to create modern classics.

Wine & Winemaking Philosophy

A Growing Tradition: For nearly a quarter century, the MacDonnell family has been growing some of the finest winegrapes in the heart of the Napa Valley’s acclaimed Rutherford region. Home to some of the most famous American vineyards, and some of the most coveted Cabernet Sauvignon fruit, Rutherford is widely recognized as one of the great viticultural regions of the world.

Over the years, they have cultivated a nurturing and sustainable relationship with our estate vineyard, which has made our Cabernet Sauvignon prized by numerous esteemed wineries. To make their own highly-rated, handcrafted wines, they have combined two generations of winegrowing experience with the same artisan attention to detail they have learned.

Their goal is simple – by remaining true to time-honored traditions they strive to bring you the best the Napa Valley has to offer. They invite you to explore and savor these exceptional, limited-production wines from Round Pond Estate.

Thomas Rivers Brown, Consulting Winemaker

Turley Estate, Schrader, Maybach Cellars, Outpost, Rivers-Marie, and now ROUND POND. These projects, and others, are what prompted Food & Wine Magazine to name Thomas Rivers Brown it’s 2010 Winemker of the Year. One of the most exciting young talents in Napa Valley, Thomas was born in Sumter, South Carolina. He developed an interest in wine while at the University of Virginia, and later he expanded his knowledge of wines from all the world’s great regions while working at All Seasons Wine Shop in Calistoga. Thomas crafts beautiful wines that speak of the land and conditions that created them.

The Land & History

Located in the heart of the Napa Valley, for more than a century the Rutherford region has been recognized for producing red wines of incomparable opulence and elegance. Although measuring a mere six square miles, this coveted winegrowing area is home to some of the oldest and most storied wineries in the United States.

Offering a unique mix of microclimate and soil composition, Rutherford has proven ideal for the cultivation of Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as premium Italian and Spanish olives. Offering abundant sunshine, warm daytime temperatures and only moderate cooling influences, Rutherford yields fruit with ripe, robust character. Adding to this character is Rutherford’s unique alluvial soils deposited over millennia by the Napa and Russian rivers as well as the Conn Creek. These vibrant and diverse soils add to the region’s rich palette of flavors.

Situated at the main Rutherford crossroads, between Beaulieu Vineyards and Caymus Winery, Round Pond has been growing premium winegrapes since the early 1980s. Cultivated with meticulous care, their grapes have been sold to several of the most preeminent wineries in the region. In addition, using a small selection of extraordinary grapes from our vineyard’s 350 planted acres, Round Pond has established an acclaimed estate wine program focusing on world-class Cabernet Sauvignon produced in extremely limited quantities.

About the name Round Pond – As a child, founder Bob MacDonnell spent many summers relaxing and camping by the water near Lake Frederick in West Point, New York. Named Round Pond, this source of idyllic youthful memories became the inspiration for the MacDonnell family’s Napa Valley home. Envisioned as a natural and serene retreat, Round Pond Estate is lovingly cultivated using sustainable methods to ensure its integrity for generations to come.

A note from COO Ryan on the MacDonnel Family

In the early 1980s our parents, Bob and Jan MacDonnell, bought the first parcel of what would one day become Round Pond Estate. Guided by their dedication and insight, for more than thirty years our family has had the privilege of discovering the inner beauty of this remarkable land. From the beginning, we knew that this rich, fertile part of Rutherford had all the potential to produce world-class wines and specialty foods of rare distinction. Perhaps more important, from our earliest efforts on, they found great joy in sharing these creations with friends and family.

Working the land, especially a great piece of land, is not about bending it to your will. Through a passionate process of experimentation and refinement, for more than a quarter century, our family has strived to help this magnificent property evolve and achieve its full potential. As our home, and the center of our family life, over the years we have grown to know Round Pond intimately – we have discovered its complexities, learned its secrets, and coaxed fruits of rare quality from its rich soils.

My brother Miles and I grew up at Round Pond. We played in the vineyards and learned respect and appreciation for the land from our mother and father. Today, as managing partners, we are proud to continue their hard work with an eye to the future. Offering a second generation of energy and dedication, we have focused on the creation of our family’s estate wine program, and the production of artisan gourmet foods from the abundance of Round Ponds’ orchards and vineyards. Still guided by the practical wisdom and aesthetic vision of our parents who maintain an active relationship with the land, we strive to craft products of unparalleled quality, while nurturing our home.