About Kate MacMurray

Kate MacMurray takes the long view of life among the vineyards of MacMurray Ranch. "Life at the ranch still follows the cadences of the changing seasons," she says, "as it has for as long as I can remember."

Kate was brought to the ranch as an infant when her parents, film actors Fred MacMurray and June Haver, brought her to the Russian River Valley ranch that had been in the family since 1941. They raised crops and cattle and took an active role in the local agricultural community. The 4-H Club, Future Farmers of America, and other land-linked organizations were welcomed at the ranch from all corners of Sonoma County.

Today, MacMurray Ranch, with its old homestead, rolling hills and well-kept vineyards, remains a gathering place for the community and for wine aficionados from around the world. Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris grapes were planted in the mid-1990s, and the first vintage of MacMurray Ranch wines arrived with the new millennium.

"There is a wonderful sense of timelessness here," Kate says. "The seasons in the vineyard mark the gentle turning of the Earth. I tell time by the vines." She sees parallels between her life today on MacMurray Ranch and her former life working in film production in Hollywood. "One of the techniques actors use is called 'sense memory', reaching for remembered aromas or flavors to evoke a time and place and emotion," Kate explains. "Tasting our wines is like that. One sip reminds you of wild berries; the next sip is earthy and warm like a summer afternoon; the next carries the sense of cool ocean fog. You really get a whole movie in every glass."

Kate's active role in the Russian River Valley includes her support of the local equestrian community, the Healdsburg Museum, Historical Society and the local Healdsburg Animal shelter, as well as hosting nationally renowned events such as Taste of Sonoma at MacMurray Ranch, part of Sonoma Wine Country Weekend.

Kate loves to share MacMurray Ranch wines with her guests at the ranch, and she travels to all corners of the country to tell the story of these award-winning wines. Kay says, "There's a saying that you only get encores on stage, not in life, but every harvest here is a renewal for us, a promise kept and a new promise made in the wine itself."