Winemaker Interview Series – Clay Mauritson & Emma Kudritzki Hall of Mauritson – October 2025

On Wednesday, October 15, 2025, we had the opportunity to interview Clay Mauritson and Emma Kudritzki Hall. Clay is the owner of Mauritson Wines and Emma is their Winemaker. On the white side, we covered a 2024 Sauvignon Blanc and a 2023 “Sonoma Coast” Chardonnay. On the red side, we covered three 2023 Zinfandels and three 2022 “Loam” series Cabernet Sauvignons. In this post you will learn more about Clay, Emma, and all of these terrific wines.

Before we get to the wines, I thought I would share some tidbits Clay and Emma shared.

• Clay’s family has been farming since 1868. That is 6 generations of farming.
  • Clay and his brothers all played Division 1 sports to get out of working on the family farm.
    • Clay specifically played outside linebacker for the University of Oregon Ducks in the 1995 Rose Bowl and the 1996 Cotton Bowl.
• His three brothers all studied viticulture.
• Clay on the other hand graduated in 1997 with a degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Marketing and a minor in Economics.
• Clay went to work at other wineries to spite his dad. The problem is he fell in love with the business.
  • Clay started working at Kenwood Vineyards in the sales and marketing department. He spent 5 years with them and eventually became their Assistant National Sales Manager.
  • After leaving Kenwood, Clay had the opportunity to work with the winemakers at Taft Street Vineyards and Dry Creek Vineyards, allowing him to hone his winemaking skills and gain additional knowledge of winery operations.
• In 1998, Clay produced his first bottling of Dry Creek Zinfandel under the Mauritson label and, in 2002, he began devoting his efforts full-time to the Mauritson Family Winery project.
  • Clay’s winemaking philosophy is simple: You need exceptional fruit to make exceptional wine.
  • This is where the advantage of having a family of grape growers becomes obvious: About 300 acres of Sonoma County family vineyards and strong relationships built over the years with other growers have given Clay access to some of the best fruit that Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley and Rockpile have to offer.
• Clay was a one-man band until 2004. He also built the winery in 2004.
• Clay had worked with other winemakers we have interviewed, so we wanted to know the connections.
  • Clay had worked with Heidi von der Mehden for 3 years at Kenwood. Heidi is now the winemaker at Merry Edwards.
  • Clay worked with Ashley Herzberg for 4 years. Ashley now consults and makes wines for Innumero.
  • Melissa Paris of Alpha Omega is also an alumni of Mauritson.
• Emma Kudritzki Hall was hired in 2011. She became Clay’s head winemaker in Jan 2019.
  • Fun fact – Emma was an All-American college athlete (she played water polo at U.C. San Diego, where she earned a B.S. in Biology).
  • After her two grape harvests in 2001 and 2002, at Carmenet winery in the Sonoma Mayacamas Mountains – Emma was hooked.
  • Next came five years of hands-on experience at other wineries close to home and as far away as New Zealand.
  • She then earned her degree in Enology and Viticulture from Fresno State University in 2005.
  • She became the Assistant Winemaker and Viticulturist at MacRostie Winery, where she worked for four years with Steve MacRostie.
• The Mauritson Sauvignon Blanc comes from a 51-year-old vineyard.
  • They have been making wine from here for 23 years.
  • The 2024 vintage was warm and delivered a lighter crop.
• In 2020, 90% of the fruit that Clay usually sources from his family’s vineyards was lost due to smoke taint.
  • For the first time ever he had to consider fruit from other sources.
    • His first call was to Steve Sangiacomo. They had known each other for a while.
    • The Chardonnay comes from Steve’s Green Acres site.
    • It is the first vineyard the Sangiacomo’s planted.
    • Mauritson’s first Chardonnay from here was the 2022 vintage.
  • He developed some rules on other sources that worked for all involved.
    • The fruit had to better than what they were growing.
    • It had to provide geographic diversity from their existing sources.
    • It had to involve multi-generational farmers.
  • The Dry Creek Zinfandel
    • This was the only wine that Clay made for the first 5 years.
    • Zin is harder to make than Pinot Noir.
      • The key is to get the Zin to ripen homogeneously.
    • Rockpile Tidbits
      • rockpile is the smallest AVA in California. The whole AVA is only 200 acres.
      • Lake Sonoma is 250 feet deep. So the water is very cold and that keeps the area’s temperature moderate.
    • The family owns 85 acres in Rockpile.
    • The Rockpile Ridge Vineyard wines come from 13 micro blocks.
      • Jack’s Cabin is one of those blocks.
    • Cabernet Sauvignon
      • Clay had to wait 5 years to get the family’s Cabernet Sauvignon. He had to wait until contracts expired.
      • From 2004-2009 he made a Bordeaux blend.
    • The Loam series project.
      • He discovered the family had Cab planted in 23 different loam soil types.
      • He took 1 ton from each of the 23 different soil types to compare them.
      • He found 5 of the soils to be heads above the other soil types.
      • He paired it down to three specific soil types. (Suther, Positas, & Clough)
      • To show off the soils impact – he neutralized all the other variables.
        • All vines are planted on 101-14 root stock.
        • All are the highly regarded 337 clone.
        • Same farming.
        • Same winemaker.
        • Same exact barrels.
      • The “Loam” offering is a blend of all three soil types.

Below is a summary of the wine offerings from Mauritson that we covered with Clay and Emma. 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 Mauritson website.

1) Mauritson 2024 Sauvignon Blanc “Dry Creek Valley” $35 (KWGTP 92)
2) Mauritson 2023 Chardonnay “Sangiacomo Vineyard” (Sonoma Coast) $55 (KWGTP 93)
3) Mauritson 2023 Zinfandel “Dry Creek Valley” $49 (KWGTP 93.5)
4) Mauritson 2023 Zinfandel “Maffei Vineyard” (Russian River Valley) $57 (KWGTP 93.5)
5) Rockpile 2023 Zinfandel “Rockpile Ridge Vineyard” $57 (KWGTP 94)
6) Loam Positas 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon “Sonoma County” $100 (KWGTP 94.5)
7) Loam Suther 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon “Sonoma County” $100 (KWGTP 97)
8) Loam 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon “Sonoma County” $100 (KWGTP 96)

Other Mauritson Wines That We Covered In Others Tastings
9. Loam Clough 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon “Sonoma County” $100 (KWGTP 95)
10. Mauritson 2023 Red Blend “Rockpile Madrone Spring Red Wine” (Rockpile) $67 (KWGTP 93)
11. Mauritson 2024 Rose “Sonoma County” $35 (KWGTP 90.5)

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