Winemaker Interview Series – Carol Shelton of Carol Shelton Wines – August 2025

On Wednesday, August 13, 2025, we had the opportunity to interview Carol Shelton, the winemaker and owner of Carol Shelton Wines. We covered a white blend and a red blend from the 2022 vintage, three 2022 Zinfandels, a 2021 Carignane, a 2023 Barbera, and, finally, a 2018 Petite Sirah. You can learn all about Carol and her wines in in this post.

Before we get to the wines, I thought I would share some tidbits that Carol shared in the interview.

• Carol grew up in Rochester, New York.
• Carol has ties to Massachusetts. Grandpa’s house on the Cape is in Orleans and she has a sister that lives in Salem.
• Carol started at UC Davis in 1974 as an undeclared major with a penchant for language and an aptitude for science.
  • She graduated with bachelor’s degree in Enology.
  • Cathy Corison was a classmate with Carol at UC Davis.
• Early in her career, Carol experienced some of the resistance that many of this pioneering class of women winemakers were encountering. In her own words: “Women weren’t allowed to work in the cellar. We weren’t considered strong enough.”
  • Carol proved them all wrong. One of her first opportunities came as a cellar hand for Cathy Corison at Freemark Abbey.
• She also worked a harvest and as an Enologist for Peter Lehmann at Saltram in Australia.
• She also worked a year under the legendary winemaker André Tchelistcheff at Buena Vista.
  • He taught her a lot about paying attention to all the details.
• In 1981, Carol began working for Rodney Strong and Windsor Vineyards.
  • During her 19-year stint as winemaker at Windsor, Carol had the opportunity to bottle 45 different wines each year, ranging from sparkling wines to port, with Zinfandel coming up as her favorite wine time and time again.
• In 1999, with the encouragement from her husband and business partner Mitch Mackenzie, she decided she was going to leave and start her own winery.
  • The only way she was going to get ahead and be fully recognized for her work was to start her own winery.
  • So, in 2020, she did. With some seed $ and severance pay she had received from Rodney Strong.
    • Carol recalls her first vintage: “We only had enough money to buy the fruit, the barrels, and to make the wine.”
  • Today the winery is based out of an industrial park in Santa Rosa. (3354-B Coffey Lane Santa Rosa, CA 95403)
  • That said, some of Carol’s wines (Like the Wild Thing wines) have become so popular that she has to make them at a custom crush facility to meet demand. She makes 6,000 to 7,000 cases per year at the custom crush facility.
  • In 2020 she hired an assistant winemaker Chris Malone to help out.
• Carol helped found the Rockpile AVA with Kent Rosenblum, who was an iconic winemaker and passionate advocate of California Zinfandel.
• The Barbara comes from the Planchon Vineyard in Oakley.
  • The vineyard is an old Zinfandel vineyard planted 130 years ago.
  • The Barbara is grown on the two outside perimeter rows surrounding the Zin vineyard.
  • There is 15 to 20 feet of sand depth in the vineyard.
  • Barbara loves the heat, so this location works.
  • The vineyard is in a shaky neighborhood, So, they only go there in the daytime.
  • Contra Costa County is at the northern most end of the Central Coast… Who knew!
• The Carignane comes from a vineyard north of Cloverdale.
  • To make this grape sing you need to pick it very very ripe!
• The Collins-Limerick Lane Vineyard was planted in 1908. It is a field blend.
• The Albini Vineyard is 25 years old.
• Monga Zin comes from the Lopez Vineyard in Cucamonga Valley.
  • It was planted in 1918.
  • The vines are bush vines. It is a very windy area.
  • The vines go down 50 feet to get water.
  • It is dry farmed.
  • It is low yielding. (.12 tons/acre)
• What is new and what is planned?
  • 2022 Petite Sirah is her last Rockpile PS.
  • She is focusing on white wine in 2025.
  • She did make 686 cases of Rockpile Rose in 2025.
• Carol Shelton has won Winemaker of the Year numerous times; I would not bet against her winning it again!

Below is a summary of the wine offerings from Carol Shelton that we covered with Carol. The links below are to our full reviews. If you are interested in ordering and trying these wines, you will find some of these wines via your favorite fine wine shop or on top quality wines lists. You can also purchase these wines on the Carol Shelton website.

1. Carol Shelton 2022 White Blend “Coquille Blanc” (Paso Robles) $28 (KWGTP 93)
2. Carol Shelton 2023 Barbera “Planchon Vineyard” (Contra Costa County) $32 (KWGTP 92)
3. Carol Shelton 2022 Red Blend “Coquille Rouge” (Central Coast) $28 (KWGTP 92.5)
4. Carol Shelton 2021 Carignane “Wireless OV” (Alex Valley) $30 (KWGTP 93)
5. Carol Shelton 2022 Zinfandel “Albini Zin” (Russian River Valley) $40 (KWGTP 93)
6. Carol Shelton 2022 Zinfandel “Collins Reserve” (Russian River Valley) $42 (KWGTP 93)
7. Carol Shelton 2022 Zinfandel “Monga” (Cucamonga Valley) $32 (KWGTP 93.5)
8. Carol Shelton 2018 Petite Sirah “Florence Reserve” (Dry Creek Valley) $40 (KWGTP 94)

Other Carol Shelton Wines That We Covered In Others Tastings

9. Carol Shelton 2023 Chardonnay “Wild Thing” (Sonoma County) $24 (KWGTP 91.5)
10. Carol Shelton 2023 Viognier “Wild Thing” (Placer County) $24 (KWGTP 92)
11. Carol Shelton 2022 Zinfandel “Wild Thing Old Vine” (Mendocino County) $20 (KWGTP 91)
12. Carol Shelton 2022 Zinfandel “Rockpile Reserve” (Florence Vineyard) $44 (KWGTP 92)
13. Carol Shelton 2023 “Black Magic Late Harvest Zin” 375 ml $22 (KWGTP 93)

You can find reviews of past and future Carol Shelton wines that we cover on the Carol Shelton KWG winery page on our website. We hope you enjoy these terrific wines as much as we did. Cheers! – Ken