Happy Wife,
Happy Life
But don’t take Happy Wife wines lightly. The Happy Wife Malbec-leading Red Blend received a Gold Medal and the Happy Wife White Blend took home a Silver Medal at the 2021 San Francisco Wine Competition, considered the premier wine judging event in the U.S.
MEET THE LABEL
WHITE
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RED
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ROSE
Brooklyn-based artist Hilary Fitzgerald designed the fanciful image on the Happy Wife bottles. Born in Sonoma, Fitzgerald creates cartoons that appear regularly in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and other publications. One look at her Happy Wife labels and it’s clear there is fun waiting inside the bottle.
Meet Ned
Happy Wife founder Ned Hill started working in the Sonoma County vineyards when he was nine years old. Son of a prominent ranch manager, Hill was named “Outstanding Fruit Science Graduate” when studying at Cal Poly. Today he manages several vineyards, which basically means he and his crew are the brawn and the brains behind the soil that grows grapes. "We own vineyards, lease vineyards and manage vineyards. We are responsible for the decision-making and getting everything done, from the layout of a new vineyard to the care of the vineyard and the harvest of the vineyard - we are the ones who take on the responsibility," says Ned.
Click the button, its just that easy.
You definitely won’t regret buying this one.
You know you want to.
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Sonoma’s Happy Wife Wine Has a Story to Tell
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Who says wine shouldn’t be fun? And affordable. Most of us look for a bottle at our price point that fits with our lifestyle and tastes exactly as we expect. Rather than sampling flights and taking tasting notes, we find a label or two that we love and return to buy them again and again. And, to be honest, none of us feel like standing around comparing labels at the grocery store these days. This isn’t to say we don’t like wine with a good backstory; we just prioritize taste and a good time.
When it comes to fun, non-pretentious and excellent tasting wines, Happy Wife checks all the boxes. Early season grapes produce a lower alcohol content that makes for a crisp finish ideal for a hot day or for sharing a couple of bottles over lunch. Not surprisingly, the first label Happy Wife launched was a white wine blend, an instant favorite for people who enjoy a fresh, full-bodied pour on a casual afternoon or early evening. The Happy Wife White proved so popular that the winemakers added a rose, followed by a red wine blend. Best of all, Happy Wife wines are available online and cost only $8, $12 and $14 for white, rose and red, respectively. That means one less trip to the store.
Hill is one of the most respected vineyard managers and grape growers in the industry. He’s appeared in the Washington Post and on CBS News, among other national outlets, to share his insights about Sonoma County wine growing. A farmer at heart, Hill’s passion for the many soil types in Sonoma County ― home to over 60 grape varietals that make the area one of the most diverse wine-growing regions in the world ― motivates him to introduce potential wine drinkers to excellent and affordable wines like Happy Wife.
Never one for pretense, Hill says what he does every day is farm, only with a more glamorous end product. Like every farmer, he is obsessed with the weather, from rainfall and drought to a hard spring freeze that might destroy an entire crop. Heat spells and wildfires also raise the stakes in producing exceptional wines.
Hill also follows trends closely. A grape glut in the early ’80s when his dad was managing the famous Durrell Ranch led vineyard managers to produce their own labels, including several that are household names today. Hill followed in his dad’s bootsteps.
Happy Wife is one of several labels that Hill’s La Prenda Vineyards produce including Fifth Hill and La Prenda, among others. These small production vintages ― like the Fifth Hill 2016 Pickberry, a merlot blend that received a Gold Medal at the 2020 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, and the 2018 La Prenda Cabernet Sauvignon ― have garnered significant acclaim. Esteemed winemaker Mike Cox recently joined the La Prenda family to lead all winemaking projects under the “Sonoma Collection” brand, a testament to Hill’s devotion to the complex soils and microclimates that comprise Sonoma County wine making.
“We always want Sonoma to stand out on all of our labels,” says Hill. “We are proud of where we are from and want to make sure anyone who buys our wine anywhere in America knows it was produced in Sonoma County.”
Happy Wife wines convey the same message: a good wine that is easy drinking from a family-run wine company. As you sit back and relax over a bottle or two of Happy Wife wine after a day or week of work, it’s good to know the wine you’re enjoying also supports the people who work hard to grow the grapes in Sonoma County. Visit the Happy Wife website for direct online purchasing.
Ned first called me after I ran into him on a night I was out with my best friend. That led to shared vineyard inspections after I taught 2nd grade all day, followed by lots of sunset viewing. He always remembers to order dessert with takeout and makes up great playlists when we cook.
“When you control the whole process from the ground up, there is more profit potential, so we started in 2010 doing bulk wine and selling wine. We bottle shiners, where the restaurants and others (realtors, special occasion celebrants) can add a custom label, and we have five or six labels that represent different price points.”
“It was dumb luck. The way to sell wine is to either get great scores or try a label that sells wine. One day, I was scrolling through names of other wines, and I punched in Happy Wife. Then I got it trademarked. My other thought is to create a ‘Contented Husband’ label to go with ‘Happy Wife.’”
Meet Wine-
maker Mike
It’s no surprise Ned Hill would bring in a winemaker like Mike Cox, another Sonoma native with an impressive pedigree, having worked with pioneering vintner Walter Schug for a quarter-century. The two share a love of place and a desire to create approachable wines from the ground up. “Having worked with Ned for two decades, I jumped at the chance to broaden my palate and work closely with the vineyard sites he farms,” says Cox. “I love the idea of bringing these wines directly to market.”
-Erika Hill, Co-Founder & Original Happy Wife
One dollar ground shipping on 3 bottles or more. No code needed!
@cartoonsbyhilary
@cartoonsbyhilary
@cartoonsbyhilary
$1 ground shipping on 3 bottles or more. No code needed!
One dollar ground shipping on 3 bottles or more. No code needed!
One dollar ground shipping on 3 bottles or more. No code needed!