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The McWilliams couldn't use their name for the winery since Gallo owned a similarly named winery in Australia. The letter from the Gallo attorney sent the family two alternative names: Arista won.

Russian River Valley (AVA)

Arista Winery is Pinot Noir
Ground Zero

by Michael Lasky
October 29, 2007

Talk about good timing: First Al and Janis McWilliams acquired prime real estate in the Russian River Valley. Then, with their son Mark, they locked in prime Pinot grape contracts from nearby vineyards. Oh, and also securing a savvy winemaker to produce sell-out lots didn’t hurt either.
Good timing, indeed.

hen your 36-acre estate in Russian River Valley is sandwiched between the vineyards of Williams Selyem to the south, Davis Bynum to the west and Rochioli to the north, then it can safely be considered PINOT NOIR GROUND ZERO. And that’s the felicitous happenstance that Mark McWilliams, proprietor of Arista Winery fell into when his family purchased this property on Westside Road from a former Proctor & Gamble executive in 2004.

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