Pete Bloomberg grew up in Los Angeles with little thought of winemaking, but a move north and a run of harvests with other Cloverdale-area producers turned into something he couldn't walk away from. His label, Llewelyn, made its first wines in 2021, working with organically farmed, dry-farmed old vines in Mendocino County from a shared cellar in Cloverdale, in northern Sonoma County.
The Region
Mendocino County sits at the northern edge of California wine country, where rugged ridges, cooler ocean influence from the Pacific, and thin soils conspire against high yields and in favor of flavor. Farmers here have long worked vines without irrigation, a practice that deepens root systems and concentrates the fruit. Bloomberg sources primarily from the Redwood Valley area, pulling in grapes from parcels that include goblet-trained Carignan vines estimated at 70 to 100 years old at a property called Poor Ranch.
Vineyards & Farming
Bloomberg works exclusively with organic, dry-farmed family-run farms. The old-vine Carignan at Poor Ranch is head-trained and unirrigated. He also sources Syrah, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay from cool Mendocino sites, including Anderson Valley parcels at elevation.
Winemaking
Grapes are harvested by hand, often foot-stomped, and fermented with native yeasts. Bloomberg uses a mix of large-format wood and regular barrels for aging, with no additions. Sulfur is kept very low or absent. Some wines spend extended time on skins or are built from multiple lots that Bloomberg blends only once they feel harmonious. The winery operates out of a shared facility in Cloverdale alongside fellow natural producers.
The Wines
The Llewelyn lineup shifts year to year but consistently includes a Carignan-Syrah red blend, rosé expressions from Carignan, and white wines from Chardonnay. Bottles are named with idiosyncratic titles such as "Trouble and Me," "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters," and "Cuvée Hildy." Production is small, with most releases quickly selling through independent natural wine shops on both coasts.
