Ames Morison

The Path

Training at Tulane University and University of California, Davis gave Morison the academic grounding before harvest work put him into the pace of the cellar. At Cakebread Cellars (1997), he worked as a harvest intern, starting with the practical demands of picking, sorting, and the controlled pressure of vintage. In 1998, Ames became co-founder and winemaker of Medlock Ames Winery, a role held to this day. That continuity has made the vineyard, the vintage, and the conversion of fruit into precise, expressive wine the defining line of the career.

The Work Today

Cabernet Sauvignon from Bell Mountain Ranch in Healdsburg remains central to Morison’s work. He describes the grape and site plainly: "Cab is king! Our vineyard soils and temperatures favor Cabernet. I am obsessed with the challenge of coaxing out the flavors, textures, and aromas that Cabernet grown on Bell Mountain has to offer." The emphasis is on what the site will yield, and on the repeated labor of drawing it out. House style is framed in the same direct register: "We are best known for producing acid-driven, food friendly wines that show a sense of place." That points to wines built around brightness, structure, and clarity, with the table as their natural setting.

Signature

Ames's signature wines include Fifty Tons Cabernet Sauvignon. It is one clear expression of the style he has worked to shape, grounded in Bell Mountain Ranch and in Cabernet Sauvignon’s demand for exacting handling.

In Their Words “Cab is king! Our vineyard soils and temperatures favor Cabernet. I am obsessed with the challenge of coaxing out the flavors, textures, and aromas that Cabernet grown on Bell Mountain has to offer.” “The most rewarding aspect of my work is fortunately something that I get to experience often, and that is holding a newly bottled wine in my hand.”

Acclaim

The job, as Morison describes it, stays physical and immediate: "The most rewarding aspect of my work is fortunately something that I get to experience often, and that is holding a newly bottled wine in my hand." The bottle’s weight marks the end of a process and the point at which months of work become something finished and shared. He also frames the work in terms of land care: "One of our most deeply held beliefs is that we must protect and preserve our land, to leave it better than when we found it." At Medlock Ames Winery, that places winemaking beside stewardship, with the glass tied back to the ground that produced it.