In summer 2016, Kelly and Noah Dorrance drove up a single-lane road just outside Healdsburg, searching. The California sun beat down. Its heat wrapped around everything, its light pushing life both up and under. Kelly rolled down her window, letting the warm air wash over her hand as she looked out. Graceful oaks, draped in spanish moss, reached up and over the road towards one another, creating a sun-dappled tunnel of green that felt both mysterious and intimate.
They parked, got out, and—standing next to one another—took it all in. Right where the valley floor began its climb upward, stood a stone casita. Next to it, an elegant patio shaded by manzanitas and oaks. To the right, a small vineyard. The sense of possibility was immediate. They had found it: a home for Reeve.
This wouldn’t be their first rodeo—but it was bound to be their most meaningful one.
Their adventure first started back in Missouri, where they grew up, met each other and fell in love, and picked up some handy Midwestern values and phrases. Big dreams got them out and exploring, first to France for work and then to Italy to marry. Soon, California began calling, with its intoxicating sense of possibility. Here, it said, here is where you belong. Here is where ambition can transform into reality, where hard work can find impact, where you can raise a family, build a life, build a dream. It was an old voice—and a convincing one. They went.
In 2008, Noah co-founded Banshee Wines. Kelly soon joined the team. And—after a few years of tinkering, building, learning, and tinkering some more—they created a winning combination. Banshee took off, with wines being shipped all over the country, and their new tasting room booked every weekend. It was everything they had hoped for.
And yet. They had an itch. Given all they had learned, given all the new ideas and expertise they now had, what would their dream wines taste like now? What would the tasting room for those wines feel like? What sort of community around that wine did they want to create? They began imagining. They began sketching, talking, and planning. Soon, they gave these ideas a name: Reeve.
In 2015, they harvested their first grapes for Reeve. They made those grapes into 500 cases of wine. People liked it. They liked it. With a taste of success for this new vision, they began securing their “dream grapes” from some of the most sought after vineyards around. They met and spoke with farmers, learning about their growing philosophies, learning about the nuances of each slope, and learning the name of each of their dogs. They enlisted the help of world-class experts, including Katy Wilson, who would eventually become Noah’s long-running winemaker partner. Very quickly, Reeve had taken on a life of its own, and it became clear: this was no side project—this was their future.
And so, in 2016, they took the leap, and found Reeve a place to call its own. The stakes were high. They were leaving a great thing. They were walking into the unknown, again. They had recently started a family, and now had two small kids at home. They were borrowing money against a vision that still mostly existed only on paper. But they knew. This was their path. This was why they had come to California. This was why they had come to the land of dreamers and doers.
In the years since, Kelly and Noah have built Reeve into a celebrated winery and tasting room, making frequent appearances on “best of" lists. With a focus on quality, style, and personal connection, they continue to create the wines, experiences, and community they dream of, every day.
