Established on Leap Day 2016,

Winemakers Melissa and Frank Swanson now scour under-the-radar areas to find exceptional grapes to make exceptional wines, immersing themselves in the process along the way.

2025 Cabernet Sauvignon

Great Wine Begins With Great Grapes

After deciding on a varietal, we spend the summer touring Northern Californian vineyards, talking to growers and inspecting their grapes to ensure only the highest quality fruit makes it into our bottles.

2025 Chardonny

Timing Harvest

As the grapes ripen on the vine, we return to the vineyard to test the juice's sugar content and pH. This lets us harvest at just the right time.

Here, Leap 29 Winemaker Frank uses a hydrometer in our temporary field lab: our car's trunk.

From the vineyard

To The Winery!

Following harvest, we transport our grapes along winding backroads and freeways to Brooks Note Winery in Petaluma, CA.

Using their equipment in a "custom crush" arrangement, we process our grapes into wine!

Turning Grape Juice Into Wine

After sorting and de-stemming red wine grapes, Winemaker Melissa adds the yeast to start fermentation. Two weeks later, they will be ready to press and begin the aging process.

White wine grapes go straight into the press to preserve color and aroma.

Barrel aging and fermenting

The Barrel Room

Aging is an essential part of our winemaking, mellowing tannins and imparting subtle oakiness to our reds.

Our Wines