This is a milestone moment for our family, and one that comes with a mix of reflection, gratitude, and — yes — a touch of sadness. After 30 years of growing grapes and making wine, we have made the decision that the 2024 vintage will be our final vintage of Arista wines produced and released.

This was not an easy decision — but it is the right one, and it comes from a place of clarity, honesty, and deep appreciation for everything we have built with you.
The wine world is changing, and while we have great confidence that Sonoma County will remain one of the premier wine regions of the world — and that great growers and producers will always endure — the realities of today’s market makes it increasingly difficult for a small, family-run winery to continue consistently offering the calibers of wines we are known for.

From the start, we have been devoted to crafting wines of the absolute highest quality, without compromise. The pursuit of quality has been our guiding light and has driven our every decision. Every bottle we’ve made has been a reflection of that unwavering commitment. As the wine industry changes - with new consumer trends and changing demographics we’ve realized that staying true to that mission is more important to us than compromising our standards in order to carry on. Rather than sell the brand and watch it become something different under new ownership, we have chosen to wind Arista down on our own terms.

Here is what that means for our A-List members: we will release our final vintage — the 2024 vintage — to you this year. To see our 2026 calendar year release schedule of the 2024 vintage wines, please click here. 2026 will be the final year we release new wines. Then, we will begin thoughtfully releasing any remaining library wines. If you’ve loved Arista wines over the years, we encourage you to secure the bottles you want for your cellar now, while you still can. This is the last opportunity to collect, to revisit favorite vineyard bottlings, and to bring home wines that have defined our story. Once these wines are gone, they are truly gone.

Then, when the time is right, we will close our cellar door for the last time. Between now and then — we want to make every moment count!

If you have ever thought about visiting us “someday,” we hope you will make that someday happen in 2026. We would love nothing more than to welcome you back, pull some corks, reminisce, laugh, and celebrate the incredible journey we have shared together. We will continue to host by-appointment tastings and will do our very best to accommodate as many visits as possible. We expect demand to be high, so we appreciate your patience, flexibility — and perhaps even a willingness to join another table of fellow Arista friends. We keep our Visit page updated with days and times we can offer tastings and how to book.

We are currently working on planning the details of our special events for 2026, celebrating this farewell chapter. As soon as we have details to announce, we post them on our Member Events page. Check this page today and check it again in the upcoming weeks and months as you plan your trip to Sonoma County around one of our events.

Finally, we want to say, “Thank You”. We have accomplished far more than we could have ever dreamed of 30 years ago as we planted our first vineyard in Sonoma County. Between growing a business, developing our estate, building a winery, and establishing our place amongst the great producers of California we have zero regrets as this story comes to an end. Yes, we have enjoyed accolades over the years, but by far our greatest pride comes from the friendships we have formed with our mailing list clients.

There has been no greater honor than stewarding Arista Winery and sharing our wines with you. The friendships formed over these past two decades are priceless. From first dates to proposals, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, retirements, holidays, and even celebrations of life you have allowed us into your world in the most personal and intimate ways. We will always treasure the stories, the pictures, the memories we have made with you.

Thank you for being part of our story — for supporting our family and our staff, believing in our wines, and inviting us into the meaningful moments of your lives. This final chapter is not an ending so much as a celebration of everything we’ve built together. We are happy to be sharing it with you.

With gratitude,
The McWilliams Family and the Arista Winery Team