Newfound Wines
Sierra Foothills, California
Audra Chapman & Matt Naumann
-
Newfound Wines is a small family owned winery located in the Sierra Foothills. In 2016, Matt Naumann and his wife, Audra Chapman purchased a remote 40 acre ranch, vineyard and winery in El Dorado County and tore out the existing vines to start fresh and review the dramatically situated parcel from it’s conventionally farmed past. They currently are sourcing grapes from several select grape growers that share their convictions with the goal of eventually going full estate fruit in the future.
Matt began his winemaking in the cellars at Michael David Vineyards in Lodi and Neyers in the Napa Valley. After Matt spent 10 years at Failla, managing Ehren Jordan’s 90 acre ranch on the Sonoma Coast, it was here where the seed was planted to farm his own piece of land. Audra has worked in wine production on the far coast of Mendocino and following a stint as wine director in Nantucket before eventually making her way back to California to work at Hourglass Wine Company in Napa Valley.
-
-
They now have 200 goats grazing the hillsides to naturally compost the site and have created a fire safe zone by lifting the densely forested canopy; cover cropped with a recipe of legumes, clovers and nitrogen fixing green manures.
-
Wines
Gravels, Red Blend
A California Rhône-inspired blend built around old vines, cool sites, and transparent winemaking. The 2022 blend combines approximately 64% Grenache from the dry-farmed Cemetery Vineyard in Mendocino, 22% Carignane from 75-year-old vines in Redwood Valley, and 14% Mourvèdre from the cool coastal Placida Vineyard on the Sonoma Coast.
Each lot was fermented separately with native yeasts and predominantly whole clusters, using gentle extraction and extended macerations to emphasize elegance and aromatic lift over power. The wines were aged in a combination of large-format neutral oak, including Austrian oval cask and French foudre, before being assembled and bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal sulfur. The result is a lifted, savory, and finely textured blend that highlights the individuality of each vineyard site.
Maus, Moon Mountain District Blend
Sourced from the rugged Maus Vineyard perched 1,400 feet above the Sonoma Valley floor, 2023 was the inaugural bottling, which captures the wild, aromatic character of Moon Mountain. Rocky, nutrient-poor soils and surrounding groves of manzanita, madrone and pine lend a distinctly savory, chaparral-driven profile to the wine.
A field blend of 63% Mourvèdre, 19% Grenache, and 18% Syrah, the wine was co-fermented with native yeasts and aged for 11 months in neutral 600L demi-muids before bottling unfined and unfiltered. Deeply aromatic yet lifted and energetic, it reflects both the power and transparency of this singular mountain site. Only 1,584 bottles produced.
Yount Mill Vineyard, Napa Valley Grenache
Long one of Newfound’s favorite vineyard sources, Yount Mill consistently produces Grenache defined by aromatic lift, freshness, and finesse. In 2022, however, the site revealed a deeper, more powerful dimension while maintaining its signature elegance. Harvested during the intense early-September heat wave, the fruit achieved exceptional ripeness without sacrificing balance, resulting in a more structured and age-worthy expression of the vineyard. Fermented with native yeasts using 100% whole clusters, the wine spent 30 days on the skins before aging for 22 months entirely in concrete to preserve freshness, refine tannins, and highlight the site’s purity. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, the 2022 Yount Mill Grenache is a compelling and cellar-worthy interpretation of this historic Napa Valley site. 1,176 bottles produced.