Merry Edwards, Proprietor and Winemaker of Meredith Vineyard Estate, Inc., has been crowned the “Grande Dame” and “Queen” of Pinot Noir. Her cutting-edge work with this varietal in the 70’s and 80’s, when America was not ready to drink, never mind create great Pinot Noir, broke the mold for winemakers everywhere. Launching her own brand in 1997 placed her on the cusp of the exploding popularity of quality American Pinot Noir. But her prestigious work with this and other noble varietals did not begin in a vineyard, a crushing tank, or even a winery. Merry Edwards came to wine through food, understanding that the combination of wine and food creates an ultimate culinary euphoria.
www.chefsblade.com, June 2009

Few winemakers have graced our Best of the Best list with such pleasing frequency as Merry Edwards, who remains the undisputed mistress of American Pinot Noir – thanks in large part to her interest in clones and her understanding of their impact on the quality of the finished wine. The meticulous matching of appropriate Pinot Noir clones to vineyard sites has, in fact, been a key component of the tremendous success of her own wine program since she cofounded Merry Edwards Wines in 1997.
Robb Report - Best of the Best, June 2009

Trailblazer, pioneer and innovator, her story epitomizes the determination and possibilities of the human spirit. This is a celebrated narrative of enduring the gender prejudice of being one of the first woman winemakers, rising from the ashes of business setbacks, and with creativity, intellect and innovation, spearheading a path to quality in California. I have never met Merry Edwards. Yet, her wines reflect the unmistakable character of their maker’s journey. They are firmly structured, lively, graceful, balanced, subtle, complex, and always luring you back to the glass. This is a heavenly sanctuary for Pinot Noir lovers.
Bill Sanders - crushandpress.blogspot.com, June 2009

#1 Most Popular Pinot Noir
Merry Edwards tops the list for the 4th time in the past 5 years!
Wine & Spirits Magazine - 20th Annual Restaurant Poll, April 2009

“...anyone would be hard pressed to find a woman winemaker in the Western Hemisphere that has more experience growing and making Pinot Noir than Merry Edwards.”
Alder Yarrow - vinography.com, March 24, 2009

“(Merry's) Pinot Noirs exhibit a restrained elegance that doesn’t overwhelm your palate or meal with big oaky tannins and high alcohol levels. Her wines aren’t about power–they are all about finesse. They seduce you with their charms and slowly reveal their secrets, one sip at a time. As you linger over a glass the wines become less elusive and slowly open up to display layers of deeply nuanced aromas and character. Underlying this are earthy flavors that are mellowed by balanced fruit and acidity.”
Summer Whitford - winespecialist.wordpress.com, March 11, 2009

“CULT PINOT: Although barely a decade old, Merry Edwards is already renowned for its Pinot Noir.”
Paul Hodgins, the Orange County Register, November 7, 2008

“The female winemakers emerging from California can all take a page from Edwards, a 33-year veteran of the vineyards. A pioneer who strives for perfection in every drop, she got into the business through her love for food. She became legendary for making some of the best pinot noir on the market - including her critically acclaimed Russian River Valley version - but she can tango with the whites, too. Her sauvignon blancs are in a class of their own, with citrus balanced with mango and other sensual tropical fruit flavors. She's got grace, spirit, artistic vision, and scientific training, and she understands how to share it all through her wine.”
New Jersey Life, October, 2008

“...any list featuring California wines should have a pinot noir from Merry Edwards. That wine really stands out for me...”
Debbie Zachareas a.q.i. "Must-Have Restaurant Wines", Vineyard & Winery Management, Sept./Oct., 2008

“Her wines, particularly her Pinot Noirs, are well known to collectors and have become a wine list staple in upscale restaurants. Accolades abound: The San Francisco Chronicle named her Winemaker of the Year in 2004, and her 2005 Sauvignon Blanc ranked 40th in Wine Spectator's "Top 100 Wines of 2007" list.”
Simply Wine, September, 2008

“The California wine country has enjoyed a female touch lately with more and more women... Recently, Merry Edwards, the grande dame of pinot noir, opened Merry Edwards Winery in the heart of the Russian River, strategically placed among her three estates.”
Nicole Alper, Celebrated Living, Fall 2008

“Merry’s Pinots these days are some of the boldest and most age-worthy produced in California, and very much in the style of a premier cru or grand cru Burgundy, with plenty of tannin and earthy complexities.”
Robert Whitley, creators.com, July 19, 2008

“La Reine, or Queen, of Pinot Noir is sitting pretty in her new winery up in Russian River Valley.  She is a pioneering winemaker who has contributed more to clonal research and other viticultural aspects of Pinot Noir than any other American.”
Catherine Fallis, planetgrape.net, July 14, 2008

“Winemaker Merry Edwards is most associated with Pinot Noir.  She makes several different ones, all terrific.  But Edwards also makes one of the best California Sauvignon Blancs I've ever tasted, maybe THE best.”
Sam Gugino's SAM COOKS Newsletter, July 2008

“Today Merry and her wines are legendary…the stunning Meredith Estate Pinot Noirs have come to define the quality of the Russian River Appellation.  Edwards also has worked with grapes grown at other Russian River vineyards…to make wines that are perfect expressions of both her winemaking style and the areas those grapes are grown in.  Some of these wines…are amongst the most sought after California pinot noirs ever made.”
Aspen Times Weekly, May 4, 2008

Merry Edwards was named #46 of the Restaurant Top 50 in the 19th Annual Restaurant Poll
Merry’s wine was also rated as #7 most popular Pinot Noir
Wine & Spirits, April 2008

“Merry’s wines have always stood out as the products of a remarkable talent…”
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – Dream Winery
January 23, 2008

“Merry Edwards is one of California’s leading producers of Pinot Noir.  She demonstrates her talents every year with a variety of bottlings from different vineyards.  Unlike some wineries whose separate vineyard bottlings are more marketing than substance, Edwards’ reflect the unique character of the site.”
Michael Apstein, winereviewonline.com, January 22, 2008

“Merry Edwards is one of the most consistent and talented Pinot Noir producers in California.”
Michael Apstein, winereviewonline.com, May 15, 2007

“For the third year running Sonoma winemaker Merry Edwards topped our list”
as #1 Most Popular Pinot Noir
Merry Edwards Wines was also named #33 of the Restaurant Top 50
in the 18th Annual Restaurant Poll
Wine & Spirits, April 2007

“Edwards is one of California’s finest interpreters of the fickle Pinot Noir grape…”
Food & Wine, April 2007

“Like Michelangelo, who was fond of saying that he merely revealed in a block of marble the ideal shape
that already existed within it, Edwards coaxes from her vineyards their ideal expressions of place.”
Brett Anderson
The Robb Report, March 2007

“Since the hit film, “Sideways”, Americans have been discovering pinot noir and vintners have rushed to accommodate them.  A lot of the stuff is light and thin.  Not the pinot noirs of Merry Edwards, who continues to go about business as usual, turning out examples celebrated for their rare amplitude.”
Mike Dunne
Sacramento Bee, January 3, 2007

Merry Edwards is named one of “The Magnificent Thirty
Wineries Best Capturing the Essence of Pinot Noir”
James Laube
The Wine Spectator
December 15, 2006

“Merry Edwards, the doyenne of the region, (Russian River Valley)
has proved that it can produce unusually age-worthy Sauvignon Blanc…”
Jancis Robinson, JancisRobinson.com, July 15, 2006

The Robb Report, a magazine "for the luxury lifestyle" features Merry Edwards Pinot Noir!"

“Edwards has become the grande dame of California Pinot”
“Best of the Best California Pinot Noir”
Jamal A. Rayyis
Food & Wine Wine Guide 2006

“One of America’s Most Influential Winemakers
She is now regarded as one of California’s premier makers of Pinot Noir.”
Nick Passmore
Forbes.com
November 2005

Wine & Spirits Magazine named Merry Edwards Wines an
Artisan Winery of the Year
“Her consistent successes have earned her a place in our American Wineries of the Year list for the fourth consecutive year.”
Wine & Spirits Magazine 2006 Buying Guide.

“She makes wines with integrity…They are a great expression of Pinot Noir.”
Debbie Zachareas, Wine Director, Bacar Restaurant
As quoted in an article by Virginie Boone
Santa Rosa Press Democrat, July 20, 2005

“Merry Edwards took the top spot, with her supple, generous Russian River wines.”
16th Annual Restaurant Poll, Wine and Spirits Magazine, April 2005

“If there’s one person in the Russian River Valley who truly has a golden touch with Pinot Noir, it’s Merry Edwards.”
Greg Walter, WineCountry.com, January/February 2005

“Merry Edwards takes on pinot noir with a passion and experience unmatched by any other practitioner in the state.”
Mike Dunne, Sacramento Bee, December 15, 2004

Winemaker of the Year
“All of Edwards Pinots are stunning — ripe yet elegant, complex and refined, with vivid aromatics and mouthwatering acidity.”
Linda Murphy
Wine Editor, San Francisco Chronicle
December 9, 2004

“I’ve spent a lot of time over the past years tasting Merry’s wines and there’s no question in my mind that she’s got a golden touch with Pinot Noir.”
Greg Walter
PinotReport, Issue #25

“ Merry Edwards’s Pinot Noir is some of the best California has to offer. She has a stunning array of single vineyard wines…which offer earthiness and bright fruit.”
Michael Apstein, The Boston Globe, November 24, 2004

Wine Spectator featured Merry Edwards in two stories November 15, 2004:
“Women Forge Ahead in California” and “Trailblazers”.

Merry Edwards was named one of “The 50 Most influential Winemakers in the World”
“… ‘push the envelope’…That is precisely what Edwards has done.”
Wine and Spirits, Fall 2004

“Merry Edwards Pinots are some of the finest from California, imbued with rich, dark fruit, superb structure and intriguing complexity. Though it is tempting to drink her wines at release when they are wrapped in youthful fat fruit, try to give them 4 to 8 years to develop impressive complexity and expressive bouquet.”
Barbara Ensrud is an author, educator and wine critic. www.Bewinewise.com.

Merry was named a "Master Vintner of 2002" by the PinotReport, and three of
her 2000 wines ranked in the "Top 12 Pinot Noirs of 2002."

Wine & Spirits Magazine named Merry Edwards Wines an Artisan Winery of the Year in the 2003 Buying Guide! Patrick Comiskey writes: "Pour one of Edwards' wines into the glass, and you're tempted to wonder, is this textbook Russian River, or is this textbook Merry Edwards? And is there even a difference?"

Merry Edwards Russian River and Olivet Lane Pinot Noirs ranked number 2 "Most popular Pinot Noirs" in a national poll conducted by Wine & Spirits Magazine. "Pinot arouses the passions of sommeliers like no other grape," says the report. -
Wine & Spirits Annual Restaurant Poll, April 2002.

Frank Prial, the esteemed wine critic of The New York Times, devoted an entire column to Merry Edwards as “The Itinerant Wizard of Sonoma Pinot Noir”. "Over the years, I've derived a lot of pleasure from wines made by Merry Edwards. …… She radiates the energy and the excitement found only in someone who truly loves what she is doing." - January 30, 2002

Merry Edwards is a winemaker known for crafting pinot noir with personality. From her home base in Northern California's foggy Russian River Valley, Edwards produces wines of depth and complexity. She's focused on capturing the velvety richness of pinot noir, while highlighting the unique qualities ofeach vineyard. Her recently released roundup of wines shows there's no better season to be Merry.
- Wines of the Week by Leslie Sbrocco - New York Times, December 4, 2001

The San Francisco Chronicle awards 'Excellent' to 1998 Merry Edwards Pinot Noirs!

Fortune Magazine's August issue profiles Merry Edwards.
“Breaking the Wineglass Ceiling” by Eryn Brown, cites Merry as a leader in the highly prized, limited production category of the wine market. Ms. Brown profiles Merry as an experienced hands-on viticulturist and seasoned winemaker.