Erin Mitchell: Unturned Stone

Graton Rancheria, Miwok, Northern Pomo land – Mendocino and Sonoma, California

https://www.unturnedstonewine.com,@unturnedstonewine

Erin Mitchell has worn many hats since beginning her career in wine in Seattle in the early 1990s. She got her start fresh out of college working as a sales associate in the gourmet foods department of Macy’s in 1993. She then went on to lead the team at McCarthy and Schiering Wine Merchants as their first female buyer and store manager. In 2000, she helped form Triage Wines, the first wholesale wine company in the Pacific Northwest committed to importing and distributing natural wine. In 2010, Erin moved to California and began working as a sales representative for Farm Wine Imports in San Francisco.

That same year, she and Randy started making wine together in a friend’s barn near the mouth of the Russian River. What started as a passion project soon evolved into Unturned Stone. When not in the vineyard or winery, Erin still works for Farm Wine Imports sharing her passion for and knowledge of classic, artisan wine grown in both the old and new world.

Social Justice and Environmental Restoration Statement

Unturned Stone is a two-person operation with one silent partner and no employees.  Someday, we will grow up and hire interns but for the time being, we do all the winemaking ourselves.  In the vineyards, we trust our growers to treat their workers responsibly and pay them a living wage.  

We only buy organically farmed fruit from vineyards in Sonoma and Mendocino that are within 70 miles of the winery in Windsor.  We are taking steps to make our packaging more carbon-neutral by using FSC-certified paper for our labels and American glass.  

We are a woman and LGBTQ-owned company.  We buy fruit from two vineyard owners who are first-generation Mexican immigrants, a rarity in Northern California.  We believe that the best way to create inclusion in the wine industry is by dispelling the myth of exclusivity.  We price our wines fairly and work with distribution partners who make the wines broadly available to restaurants, retailers and grocery stores in CA.   

We are big believers in social welfare and make regular donations to the Redwood Empire Food Bank, KPFA, KEXP (gotta have music in the winery!), and the Roots Fund.