{"id":2628,"date":"2025-11-13T03:34:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T03:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=2628"},"modified":"2025-11-24T03:57:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T03:57:43","slug":"winemaker-interview-series-carol-shelton-of-carol-shelton-wines-august-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=2628","title":{"rendered":"Winemaker Interview Series \u2013 Carol Shelton of Carol Shelton Wines &#8211; August 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Carol-Shelton-Blog-Home.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2629\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Carol-Shelton-Blog-Home-232x300.gif\" alt=\"Carol Shelton\" width=\"232\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On Wednesday, August 13, 2025, we had the opportunity to interview <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolshelton.com\/about-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>Carol Shelton<\/u><\/strong><\/a>, the winemaker and owner of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolshelton.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>Carol Shelton Wines<\/u><\/strong><\/a>. 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 this post.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Before we get to the wines, I thought I would share some tidbits that Carol shared in the interview.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Carol grew up in Rochester, New York.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Carol has ties to Massachusetts. Grandpa&#8217;s house on the Cape is in Orleans and she has a sister that lives in Salem.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Carol started at UC Davis in 1974 as an undeclared major with a penchant for language and an aptitude for science.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">She graduated with bachelor\u2019s degree in Enology.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cathy Corison was a classmate with Carol at UC Davis.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">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: &#8220;Women weren\u2019t allowed to work in the cellar. We weren\u2019t considered strong enough.&#8221;<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Carol proved them all wrong. One of her first opportunities came as a cellar hand for Cathy Corison at Freemark Abbey.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">She also worked a harvest and as an Enologist for Peter Lehmann at Saltram in Australia.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">She also worked a year under the legendary winemaker Andr\u00e9 Tchelistcheff at Buena Vista.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He taught her a lot about paying attention to all the details.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In 1981, Carol began working for Rodney Strong and Windsor Vineyards.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">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.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">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.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The only way she was going to get ahead and be fully recognized for her work was to start her own winery.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So, in 2020, she did. With some seed $ and severance pay she had received from Rodney Strong.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Carol recalls her first vintage: &#8220;We only had enough money to buy the fruit, the barrels, and to make the wine.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Today the winery is based out of an industrial park in Santa Rosa. (3354-B Coffey Lane Santa Rosa, CA 95403)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Carol-Shelton-2022-Wild-Thing-Zinfandel.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2631\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Carol-Shelton-2022-Wild-Thing-Zinfandel-126x300.gif\" alt=\"Carol Shelton Wild Thing Zinfandel\" width=\"126\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>That said, some of Carol\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In 2020 she hired an assistant winemaker Chris Malone to help out.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Carol helped found the Rockpile AVA with Kent Rosenblum, who was an iconic winemaker and passionate advocate of California Zinfandel.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Barbara comes from the Planchon Vineyard in Oakley.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The vineyard is an old Zinfandel vineyard planted 130 years ago.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Barbara is grown on the two outside perimeter rows surrounding the Zin vineyard.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There is 15 to 20 feet of sand depth in the vineyard.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Barbara loves the heat, so this location works.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The vineyard is in a shaky neighborhood, So, they only go there in the daytime.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Contra Costa County is at the northern most end of the Central Coast\u2026 Who knew!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Carignane comes from a vineyard north of Cloverdale.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">To make this grape sing you need to pick it very very ripe!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Collins-Limerick Lane Vineyard was planted in 1908. It is a field blend.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Albini Vineyard is 25 years old.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Carol-Shelton-in-the-Monga-Vineyard.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2632\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Carol-Shelton-in-the-Monga-Vineyard-300x247.gif\" alt=\"Lopez Vineyard\" width=\"300\" height=\"247\" \/><\/a>Monga Zin comes from the Lopez Vineyard in Cucamonga Valley.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It was planted in 1918.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The vines are bush vines. It is a very windy area.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The vines go down 50 feet to get water.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It is dry farmed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It is low yielding. (.12 tons\/acre)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">What is new and what is planned?<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">2022 Petite Sirah is her last Rockpile PS.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">She is focusing on white wine in 2025.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">She did make 686 cases of Rockpile Rose in 2025.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Carol Shelton has won Winemaker of the Year numerous times; I would not bet against her winning it again!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">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 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolshelton.com\/xe\/xe.asp?page=viewcat&amp;cat=wines\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Carol Shelton website<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Carol-Shelton-Logo.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2630\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Carol-Shelton-Logo-300x73.gif\" alt=\"Carol Shelton Logo\" width=\"300\" height=\"73\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Carol-Shelton-2022-Coquille-Blanc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Carol Shelton 2022 White Blend &#8220;Coquille Blanc&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Paso Robles) $28 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Carol-Shelton-2023-Barbera-d-Oakley\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Carol Shelton 2023 Barbera &#8220;Planchon Vineyard&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Contra Costa County) $32 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 92<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Carol-Shelton-2022-Coquille-Rouge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Carol Shelton 2022 Red Blend \u201cCoquille Rouge\u201d<\/strong><\/a> (Central Coast) $28 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 92.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Carol-Shelton-2021-Wireless-Carignane\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Carol Shelton 2021 Carignane &#8220;Wireless OV&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Alex Valley) $30 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Carol-Shelton-2022-Albini-Zinfandel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Carol Shelton 2022 Zinfandel &#8220;Albini Zin&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Russian River Valley) $40 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Carol-Shelton-2022-Collins-Reserve-Zinfandel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Carol Shelton 2022 Zinfandel &#8220;Collins Reserve&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Russian River Valley) $42 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Carol-Shelton-2022-Monga-Zinfandel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Carol Shelton 2022 Zinfandel &#8220;Monga&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Cucamonga Valley) $32 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Carol-Shelton-2018-Florence-Reserve-Petite-Sirah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Carol Shelton 2018 Petite Sirah &#8220;Florence Reserve&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Dry Creek Valley) $40 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 94<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><u>Other Carol Shelton Wines That We Covered In Others Tastings<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"9\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Carol-Shelton-2023-Wild-Thing-Chardonnay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Carol Shelton 2023 Chardonnay &#8220;Wild Thing&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Sonoma County) $24 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 91.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Carol-Shelton-2023-Wild-Thing-Viognier\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Carol Shelton 2023 Viognier &#8220;Wild Thing&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Placer County) $24 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 92<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Carol-Shelton-2022-Wild-Thing-Zinfandel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Carol Shelton 2022 Zinfandel &#8220;Wild Thing Old Vine&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Mendocino County) $20 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 91<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Carol-Shelton-2022-Rocky-Reserve-Zinfandel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Carol Shelton 2022 Zinfandel &#8220;Rockpile Reserve&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Florence Vineyard) $44 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 92<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Carol-Shelton-2023-Black-Magic-Late-Harvest-Zinfandel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Carol Shelton 2023 &#8220;Black Magic Late Harvest Zin&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> 375 ml $22 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You can find reviews of past and future Carol Shelton wines that we cover on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine.php?winery=23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><u>Carol Shelton KWG winery page<\/u><\/strong> <\/a>on our website. We hope you enjoy these terrific wines as much as we did. Cheers! \u2013 Ken<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1931,1739,2827,46,3200,92,1616,3084,1892,13,2069,3199,27,76,3201,149,11,112,1813,993,75,124,1201,1187,155,3202,102,5,2001,3203,126,8,6,240,1292,39,1288],"tags":[3184,3194,1001,1720,1987,3169,3173,3187,3180,1613,644,3168,3170,1484,3178,3195,3183,1610,3191,3192,3186,3035,3188,1483,3198,2208,3179,3205,3185,3175,3196,3197,3182,3204,452,3171,1510,3181,1165,2954,3189,275,1469,3172,705,1481,2102,3177,3176,3174,1434,3190,3193,523],"class_list":["post-2628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alexander-valley","category-andre-tchelistcheff","category-australia","category-barbera","category-bush-vines","category-california","category-carignane","category-carol-shelton","category-central-coast","category-chardonnay","category-contra-costa","category-cucamonga-valley","category-dessert-wine","category-dry-creek-valley","category-dry-farmed","category-freemark-abbey","category-kens-wine-guide-tasting-panel","category-late-harvest","category-limerick-lane","category-old-vines","category-paso-robles","category-petite-sirah","category-red-blend","category-red-wine","category-rockpile","category-rodney-strong","category-russian-river-valley","category-us-red-blends","category-white-blend","category-wild-thing","category-wine-ratings","category-wine-recommendations","category-wine-reviews","category-wine-tasting","category-winemaker","category-zinfandel","category-zoom-wine-tasting","tag-albini-vineyard","tag-albini-zin","tag-alexander-valley","tag-andre-tchelistcheff","tag-australia","tag-barbera","tag-buena-vista","tag-bush-vines","tag-california-zinfandel","tag-carignane","tag-carol-shelton","tag-carol-shelton-wines","tag-cathy-corison","tag-central-coast","tag-chris-malone","tag-collins-reserve","tag-collins-limerick-lane-vineyard","tag-contra-costa-county","tag-coquille-blanc","tag-coquille-rouge","tag-cucamonga-valley","tag-dry-creek-valley","tag-dry-farmed","tag-enology","tag-florence-reserve","tag-freemark-abbey","tag-kent-rosenblum","tag-late-harvest","tag-lopez-vineyard","tag-mitch-mackenzie","tag-monga","tag-monga-zin","tag-oakley","tag-old-vines","tag-paso-robles","tag-peter-lehmann","tag-petite-sirah","tag-planchon-vineyard","tag-red-blend","tag-rockpile","tag-rockpile-rose","tag-rodney-strong","tag-russian-river-valley","tag-saltram","tag-santa-rosa","tag-uc-davis","tag-white-blend","tag-wild-thing","tag-wild-thing-wines","tag-windsor-vineyards","tag-winemaker","tag-winemaker-of-the-year","tag-wireless-ov","tag-zinfandel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2628"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2635,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2628\/revisions\/2635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}