Peter Merriam, Founder and Proprietor Merriam Vineyards
Growing up in Maine, Peter loved the Northeast’s four distinct seasons, helping in the
family garden when it was warm enough, hunting and fishing any time at all. And most
of all, skiing: Peter became an NCAA Division 1 skier in combined Cross-Country
Skiing and Ski Jumping. Naturally, the outdoorsman and athlete evolved into a steward
of the land. It was a bottle of great French Burgundy, though, that turned Peter into
the proprietor of a wine retail business on the outskirts of Boston. “For the love of
wine,” he says. “A wine shop seemed to be the best place to land. (I could supply my
wine cellar at wholesale prices.)”
In the 1980s and 90s, Peter’s focus shifted to California, particularly Sonoma’s nascent
wine industry. As he tasted the small-production wines leading the day, the visionary
understood the quality and scale of winemaking emerging. His satisfaction in drinking
great wines and making them available to others grew into a drive to embark on building
a family estate winery. “I believe this is the purest way to express our passion for wine,”
he says. “We could just purchase bulk wine and market it, but this is what sets us apart:
total control of all that we produce.”

The Merriam Family Story
Tucked at the eastern edge of the Russian River Valley, just south of Healdsburg,
Merriam Vineyards has become one of the region’s loveliest places to settle in and taste,
in one of an array of gracious new spaces around the winery and grounds. With an
extensive landscape transformation, the Merriam Family has created an updated indoor
Windacre Lounge, sparkling new Tasting Room, an outdoor garden tasting area, and
water feature driven tasting terrace—niches to encourage wine lovers to revel in one of
the most diverse lineups of wines Russian River has to offer, along with gourmet local
foods, from cheese to chocolate.
From the outset, the vision of Peter and Diana Merriam, both from the East Coast, was
about the land: about healing it, stewarding it wisely, and making wines that express its
character. And the hospitality program they have launched at the winery is an extension
of that long view. It’s intended to pull visitors outside, to be surrounded by the vineyard,
with views across the vines to golden, oak-studded hills—a snapshot of old California
itself. “We wanted to improve on the overall tasting experience for our guests,” says
Peter Merriam, “bring them closer to our vineyards and production area for all to
explore—visually, through self-guided vineyard tours, or through guided tours by our
knowledgeable staff.”