Tom Rodrigues is not your average, ambitious winery owner. He’s settled, past the glory of recognition in his career as an actor and as a label artist for Nickel + Nickel, Far Niente and Dolce, among other wineries. His passion is the peace he’s found later in life, personally as a newlywed and professionally manning the tasting bar for guests who drive up the steep hillside of Yorkville Highlands of Anderson Valley in Mendocino County to the pet-friendly Maple Creek Winery. Tom continues his artful wine label creations under the business he calls Artevino, but most of what he creates today are labels for his own wines.

His rustic tasting room is a far cry from the grandeur found in tasting rooms along Napa Valley’s Silverado Trail. The feel is unpretentious and welcoming, like stopping at a friend’s house unexpectedly when neither of you care about the surrounding clutter or dirty dishes in the sink. Except this friend has a winery on a property that spans 165 acres to include Maple Creek, seven springs, natural gardens and orchards.

My tasting experience began with Flora, a hybrid of gewürztraminer and Semillon grapes fermented in neutral French oak barrels that attributed to its nice finish. Next, a golden pour of a 2014 Maple Creek Estate Reserve Chardonnay offered light aromas of stone fruit with a slight hint of yeast, almond and wet leaves. This is a wine dry on the palate with medium acidity and alcohol, yet full bodied flavor intensity with characteristics representative of an aged chardonnay with a pretty good finish.

My favorite was the 2017 Lost Creek Pinot Noir made from 90% Pommard clone and 10% Dijon clone. Impressive until I tasted the 2017 Estate Pinot Noir with more Dijon clone.

Tom’s secret is his perfection of knowing the right time to pick his grapes -- by evaluating the seed color, or so he says. Whatever his process, the wines are interesting and intense, an example being the 2013 Weir Vineyard Pinot Noir. This wine is so deep in color, with a mushroom aroma telling of its age and tobacco telling of its barrel aging.

As I was about to depart, Tom introduced me to a merlot port that was so smooth – no burn, and a Sauternes style of wine appropriately named Symphony – a hybrid of Muscat and grenache gris aged 11 years in a barrel. It’s a beautiful composition of winemaking.

Tom’s motto is right on, and I look forward to my next visit on my way to Mendocino. Worth noting: Maple Creek Winery produces fewer than 200 cases of each wine annually, so the time to taste them is now.

Charlene Peters, a.k.a. Sip Tripper, is a WSET Level 2 Certified wine writer with extensive experience traveling the world to explore New and Old World wines and indigenous culinary creations to share with readers. She can be reached at siptripper@gmail.com.