On Wednesday, August 6, 2025, we had the opportunity to once again interview Jeff Gaffner, the winemaker and owner of Saxon Brown Winery. We covered three 2022 vintage Chardonnays, three 2022 vintage Pinot Noirs, a 2022 vintage GMS red blend, and a 2022 vintage Zinfandel. You can learn all about what is new with Jeff, the Saxon Brown winery, and these wines in this post.
Before we get to the wines, I thought I would share some tidbits that Jeff shared in the interview.
- We asked Jeff to refresh our memory on starting his own winery. Jeff launched Saxon Brown in 1997.
- It is named after his favorite female literary character, from Jack London’s “Valley of the Moon.”
- He started it to focus on small single vineyard bottlings reflecting his preference for elegantly structured, well-balanced, and age worthy wines. Jeff calls Saxon Brown his R&D brand. It allows him to take winemaking risks and experiment with ideas that he wouldn’t try with his clients’ production.
- Over time, Jeff expanded Saxon Brown’s vineyard-focus with small offerings from both established and emerging vineyard sites, including Durell, Gap’s Crown, and Roberts Road (Sonoma Coast), Hyde (Carneros-Napa), Green Acres (Carneros-Sonoma), Ferrington (Anderson Valley) and Rosella’s (Santa Lucia Highlands) vineyards.
- Jeff enjoys critical acclaim as consulting winemaker for artisan labels including Stephanie by Hestan (Napa Valley), Black Kite Cellars (Anderson Valley), Vincent Christopher (Sonoma Coast), Modicum (Napa Valley), & ETRE Wines (Sonoma Coast).
- This “Fighting Brothers” wines are named for his two sons, Jason and Tyler, who’ve managed to blend their many differences into something approaching harmony.
- These are Jeff’s entry level wines.
- The Pinot Noir is a blend of three vineyards. Jeff says that the Roberts Road Vineyard offers feminine qualities to the blend, while Durell offers an earth tone, and Gap’s Crown brings in cherry flavors.
- The Zin is a blend of southern Sonoma sourced field blend of grapes that are picked and co-fermented together.
- The barrels and cooper for all the Saxon Brown wines are exactly the same. So, that variable is neutral. This helps preserve the refection of the vineyard.
- Green Acres Hill is a section of the Sangiacomo Vineyard.
- ETRE (is translated as “to be.”) As Jeff says, “my reason to be.”
- This wine and brand are a tribute to Tracey Walker.
- Tracey is the glue that keeps Saxon Brown together and keeping Jeff organized so he can concentrate on making wine.
- This wine is the Chardonnay version of Fighting Brothers.
- This Chard is a blend of four vineyards. Durell, Green Acres, Roberts Road, and Catarina Vineyard which was the second ranch to become part of the Sangiacomo family’s estate.
- The Gap’s Crown Pinot Noir is a blend of Clone 115 from up high in the vineyard and 777 clone.
- The GMS comes from Phil Coturri’s “Steel Plow Vineyard.”
- What is new and on the horizon?
- Jeff is making a Chenin Blanc from Freestone in 2025. There will be 75 cases.
- Jeff has made a Cote Rotie styled Syrah wine called “Cordell Bank” from the 2019, 2021, and 2022 vintages.
- Jeff uses 5-7% Viognier in the blend.
- The wines have a cold marine influence.
- These wines are currently under Saxon Brown, however, will eventually have its own label.
Below is a summary of all the impressive wines that we covered with Jeff. The links are to our full reviews. If you are interested in ordering these wines, you find a few of them via your favorite wine shop or fine dining restaurant. The rest are available for order via the Saxon Brown website or even better, you can request them by e-mailing Tracey at Tracey@saxonbrown.com.
1) Saxon Brown 2022 Chardonnay “Green Acres Hill Vineyard” (Carneros) $75 (KWGTP 94.5)
2) Saxon Brown 2022 Chardonnay “Durell Vineyard” (Sonoma Coast) $75 (KWGTP 94)
3) Saxon Brown 2022 Chardonnay “ETRE” (Sonoma Coast) $38 (KWGTP 93.5)
4) Saxon Brown 2022 Pinot Noir “Fighting Brothers” (Sonoma Coast) $60 (KWGTP 92.5)
5) Saxon Brown 2022 Pinot Noir “Roberts Road” (Sonoma Coast) $75 (KWGTP 93.5)
6) Saxon Brown 2022 Pinot Noir “Gap’s Crown Vineyard” (Sonoma Coast) $75 (KWGTP 93.5)
7) Saxon Brown 2022 Red Blend “GMS” (Sonoma Valley) $60 (KWGTP 92.5)
8) Saxon Brown 2022 Zinfandel “Fighting Brothers” (Sonoma Valley) $50 (KWGTP 93.5)
You can find reviews of past and future Saxon Brown wines that we cover on the Saxon Brown KWG winery page on our website. We hope you enjoy these terrific wines as much as we did. Cheers! – Ken