Wineries – Handley Cellars

Handley Cellars’ wines can be found in its Anderson Valley tasting room and in fine wine shops and restaurants across the United States.

Milla Handley established Handley Cellars in 1982 with a mere 250 cases of wine made in the basement of her home, located in a then-unknown wine region not far from the California coastline. Today, Anderson Valley wines are not nearly as rare as they were when Milla made her first Chardonnay, and the idea of a woman both owning the winery and making the wine is no longer unheard-of.

Milla is an ardent advocate of wines that reflect their terroir. Her approach to winemaking stresses the integrity of the region and vineyards in which the grapes are raised. Her Anderson Valley wines reflect the crisp, cool climate of the valley. The Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays, Gewürztraminers, and sparkling wines are well-balanced, finely structured, complex, and approachable. They reflect a confidence in the vineyard, rather than the industry trend toward homogeneity. The Handley Cellars' Dry Creek Valley wines display a rounder texture and more tropical flavors, reflecting the area's warmer climate and its deeper soils.

Milla's emphasis on balance in her wines carries over to all aspects of Handley Cellars. Vineyard balance and sustainability is pursued through organic farming practices. Inside the winery, Milla encourages balance between work and family by promoting a family-friendly atmosphere that leads to the gathering of employees' children after school, and flexible scheduling to accommodate family priorities. In the winery's tasting room, visitors are encouraged to indulge their sensibilities as well as their palates by sampling wines in a comfortable room filled with the Handley family’s superb collection of Oaxacan, Balinese, Indian, and African folk art.