{"id":2660,"date":"2026-01-07T03:51:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T03:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=2660"},"modified":"2026-01-07T03:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T03:51:14","slug":"winemaker-interview-series-clay-mauritson-emma-kudritzki-hall-of-mauritson-october-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=2660","title":{"rendered":"Winemaker Interview Series \u2013 Clay Mauritson &#038; Emma Kudritzki Hall of Mauritson &#8211; October 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Clay-Mauritson-of-Mauritson-Wines-Blog.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2663 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Clay-Mauritson-of-Mauritson-Wines-Blog-243x300.gif\" alt=\"Clay Mauritson\" width=\"243\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>On Wednesday, October 15, 2025, we had the opportunity to interview <a href=\"https:\/\/mauritsonwines.com\/team-member\/clay-mauritson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Clay Mauritson<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/mauritsonwines.com\/team-member\/emma-kudritzki-hall\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Emma Kudritzki Hall<\/strong><\/a>. Clay is the owner of <a href=\"https:\/\/mauritsonwines.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Mauritson Wines<\/strong><\/a> and Emma is their Winemaker. On the white side, we covered a 2024 Sauvignon Blanc and a 2023 &#8220;Sonoma Coast&#8221; Chardonnay. On the red side, we covered three 2023 Zinfandels and three 2022 &#8220;Loam&#8221; series Cabernet Sauvignons. In this post you will learn more about Clay, Emma, and all of these terrific wines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Before we get to the wines, I thought I would share some tidbits Clay and Emma shared.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clay&#8217;s family has been farming since 1868. That is 6 generations of farming.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clay and his brothers all played Division 1 sports to get out of working on the family farm.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clay specifically played outside linebacker for the University of Oregon Ducks in the 1995 Rose Bowl and the 1996 Cotton Bowl.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">His three brothers all studied viticulture.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clay on the other hand graduated in 1997 with a degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Marketing and a minor in Economics.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clay went to work at other wineries to spite his dad. The problem is he fell in love with the business.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">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.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">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.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">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.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clay&#8217;s winemaking philosophy is simple: You need exceptional fruit to make exceptional wine.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">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.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clay was a one-man band until 2004. He also built the winery in 2004.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clay had worked with other winemakers we have interviewed, so we wanted to know the connections.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clay had worked with Heidi von der Mehden for 3 years at Kenwood. Heidi is now the winemaker at Merry Edwards.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clay worked with Ashley Herzberg for 4 years. Ashley now consults and makes wines for Innumero.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Melissa Paris of Alpha Omega is also an alumni of Mauritson.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Emma-Kudritzki-Hall-of-Mauritson.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2664\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Emma-Kudritzki-Hall-of-Mauritson-232x300.gif\" alt=\"Emma Kudritzki\" width=\"232\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Emma Kudritzki Hall was hired in 2011. She became Clay&#8217;s head winemaker in Jan 2019.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Fun fact \u2013 Emma was an All-American college athlete (she played water polo at U.C. San Diego, where she earned a B.S. in Biology).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">After her two grape harvests in 2001 and 2002, at Carmenet winery in the Sonoma Mayacamas Mountains \u2013 Emma was hooked.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Next came five years of hands-on experience at other wineries close to home and as far away as New Zealand.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">She then earned her degree in Enology and Viticulture from Fresno State University in 2005.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">She became the Assistant Winemaker and Viticulturist at MacRostie Winery, where she worked for four years with Steve MacRostie.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Mauritson Sauvignon Blanc comes from a 51-year-old vineyard.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They have been making wine from here for 23 years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The 2024 vintage was warm and delivered a lighter crop.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In 2020, 90% of the fruit that Clay usually sources from his family&#8217;s vineyards was lost due to smoke taint.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">For the first time ever he had to consider fruit from other sources.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">His first call was to Steve Sangiacomo. They had known each other for a while.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Chardonnay comes from Steve&#8217;s Green Acres site.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It is the first vineyard the Sangiacomo&#8217;s planted.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Mauritson&#8217;s first Chardonnay from here was the 2022 vintage.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He developed some rules on other sources that worked for all involved.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The fruit had to better than what they were growing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It had to provide geographic diversity from their existing sources.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It had to involve multi-generational farmers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Dry Creek Zinfandel<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This was the only wine that Clay made for the first 5 years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Zin is harder to make than Pinot Noir.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The key is to get the Zin to ripen homogeneously.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Rockpile Tidbits<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">rockpile is the smallest AVA in California. The whole AVA is only 200 acres.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Lake Sonoma is 250 feet deep. So the water is very cold and that keeps the area&#8217;s temperature moderate.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The family owns 85 acres in Rockpile.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Rockpile Ridge Vineyard wines come from 13 micro blocks.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Jack&#8217;s Cabin is one of those blocks.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cabernet Sauvignon<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clay had to wait 5 years to get the family&#8217;s Cabernet Sauvignon. He had to wait until contracts expired.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">From 2004-2009 he made a Bordeaux blend.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Loam series project.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He discovered the family had Cab planted in 23 different loam soil types.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He took 1 ton from each of the 23 different soil types to compare them.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He found 5 of the soils to be heads above the other soil types.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He paired it down to three specific soil types. (Suther, Positas, &amp; Clough)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">To show off the soils impact \u2013 he neutralized all the other variables.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">All vines are planted on 101-14 root stock.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">All are the highly regarded 337 clone.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Same farming.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Same winemaker.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Same exact barrels.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The &#8220;Loam&#8221; offering is a blend of all three soil types.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">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<a href=\"https:\/\/mauritsonwines.com\/collection\/wines\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong> Mauritson website<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Mauritson-Wine-Logo.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2662\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Mauritson-Wine-Logo-300x89.gif\" alt=\"Mauritson Wine Logo\" width=\"300\" height=\"89\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">1) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Mauritson-2024-Sauvignon-Blanc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Mauritson 2024 Sauvignon Blanc &#8220;Dry Creek Valley&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $35 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 92<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">2) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Mauritson-2023-Sangiacomo-Vineyard-Chardonnay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Mauritson 2023 Chardonnay &#8220;Sangiacomo Vineyard&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Sonoma Coast) $55 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">3) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Mauritson-2023-Dry-Creek-Valley-Zinfandel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Mauritson 2023 Zinfandel &#8220;Dry Creek Valley&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $49 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">4) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Mauritson-2023-Maffei-Vineyard-Zinfandel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Mauritson 2023 Zinfandel &#8220;Maffei Vineyard&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Russian River Valley) $57 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 93.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">5) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Mauritson-2023-Rockpile-Ridge-Vineyard-Zinfandel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Rockpile 2023 Zinfandel &#8220;Rockpile Ridge Vineyard&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $57 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 94<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">6) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Mauritson-2022-Loam-Positas-Cabernet-Sauvignon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Loam Positas 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon &#8220;Sonoma County&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $100 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 94.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">7) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Mauritson-2022-Loam-Suther-Cabernet-Sauvignon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Loam Suther 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon &#8220;Sonoma County&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $100 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 97<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">8) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Mauritson-2022-Loam-Cabernet-Sauvignon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Loam 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon &#8220;Sonoma County&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $100 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 96<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><u>Other Mauritson Wines That We Covered In Others Tastings<\/u><\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">9. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Mauritson-2022-Loam-Clough-Cabernet-Sauvignon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Loam Clough 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon &#8220;Sonoma County&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $100 (<strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">KWGTP 95<\/span><\/strong>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">10. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Mauritson-2023-Rockpile-Madrone-Spring-Red-Wine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Mauritson 2023 Red Blend &#8220;Rockpile Madrone Spring Red Wine&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (Rockpile) $67 (<strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">KWGTP 93<\/span><\/strong>)<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">11. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine_review\/Mauritson-2024-Rose\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Mauritson 2024 Rose &#8220;Sonoma County&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> $35 (<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>KWGTP 90.5<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You can find reviews of past and future Mauritson wines that we cover on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/wine.php?winery=1011\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Mauritson KWG winery page<\/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, 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 &#8220;Sonoma Coast&#8221; Chardonnay. On the red side, we covered three 2023 Zinfandels and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2666,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3080,18,92,13,3293,76,3294,2004,11,2814,2745,1201,1187,155,24,102,2549,9,1120,67,126,8,6,240,1292,39,1288],"tags":[3276,3277,3291,3046,625,491,2955,3290,3035,3278,3279,3272,3271,1483,3281,3283,2005,3286,2007,3284,3273,3287,2793,3292,2774,3280,2751,3275,3289,1165,2954,3285,467,1469,1635,518,1124,704,3282,3288,3274,1482,2659,1434,523],"class_list":["post-2660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ashley-herzberg","category-cabernet-sauvignon","category-california","category-chardonnay","category-clay-mauritson","category-dry-creek-valley","category-emma-kudritzki-hall","category-heidi-von-der-mehden","category-kens-wine-guide-tasting-panel","category-macrostie-winery","category-melissa-paris","category-red-blend","category-red-wine","category-rockpile","category-rose","category-russian-river-valley","category-sangiacomo-vineyard","category-sauvignon-blanc","category-sonoma-coast","category-sonoma-county","category-wine-ratings","category-wine-recommendations","category-wine-reviews","category-wine-tasting","category-winemaker","category-zinfandel","category-zoom-wine-tasting","tag-1995-rose-bowl","tag-1996-cotton-bowl","tag-337-clone","tag-ashley-herzberg","tag-cabernet-sauvignon","tag-chardonnay","tag-clay-mauritson","tag-clough","tag-dry-creek-valley","tag-dry-creek-vineyards","tag-dry-creek-zinfandel","tag-emma-kudritzki","tag-emma-kudritzki-hall","tag-enology","tag-fresno-state-university","tag-green-acres","tag-heidi-von-der-mehden","tag-jacks-cabin","tag-kenwood-vineyards","tag-lake-sonoma","tag-loam","tag-loam-series","tag-macrostie-winery","tag-madrone-spring-red-wine","tag-maffei-vineyard","tag-mauritson-family-winery","tag-melissa-paris","tag-oregon-ducks","tag-positas","tag-red-blend","tag-rockpile","tag-rockpile-ridge-vineyard","tag-rose","tag-russian-river-valley","tag-sangiacomo-vineyard","tag-sauvignon-blanc","tag-sonoma-coast","tag-sonoma-county","tag-steve-sangiacomo","tag-suther","tag-university-of-oregon","tag-viticulture","tag-viticulturist","tag-winemaker","tag-zinfandel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2660","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=2660"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2667,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2660\/revisions\/2667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}