Aadland Moody Vineyards

Aadland Moody Vineyards is perched on the slopes of Spring Mountain bordering Spring Mountain Road. This 17-acre property is previously the site of Beringer owned vineyards that at that time was called the “Los Hermanos Vineyards” or, “the brothers vineyards” in honor of Frederick and Jacob, the two brothers who founded Beringer Winery. Jacob’s son Charles and his wife lived on the property for a number of years. Charles sister Bertha was quite creative during prohibition so as to help keep Beringer “afloat” during those trying times in the wine industry. She came up with the idea to turn grapes into raisin cakes which could then be used to create cider and grape juice for home consumption. Beringer was one of the few Napa wineries to stay open the entire length of prohibition. Later more Beringer family members lived here including Karl and Olga Beringer.

The property was purchased in 2022 by Justin Moody and Kristine Aadland, both dentists. Justin founded and operates Horizon West Dental group; the company has multiple locations in Nebraska providing a variety of dental care services. He also founded New Horizon Dental Institute, a non profit which has donated more than 40 million dollars in dental implants. Their dental office is located in Crawford, Nebraska. In 2014 he founded Implant Pathway, an organization offering dental curriculum and courses. And Kristine founded Aadland Dental in 2009, a dental service provider based in Vancouver, Washington.

Justin’s first trip to Napa Valley was in his mid 20s in 1995, accompanied by his life long friend, Curt Rising, a pharmacist; both met for the first time as young children. Justin was in California presenting a dental research paper at a medical conference at the University of Pacific (UOP), San Francisco. Both men took an extra day to visit Napa Valley that trip; they stayed overnight at a home on Langtry Road on Spring Mountain, fortuitous because nearly 30 years later Justin would own a winery within a short drive of where he and Rising first stayed. Justin remembers visiting Frog’s Leap Winery and Cakebread Cellars and a restaurant they wanted to dine at, but decided not to due to the requirement that men needed to wear jackets.

Inspired by this trip, Justin returned to Crawford, Nebraska with the intent to research grape varieties that would grow in the region. Crawford, Nebraska is a tiny community of about 1,000 residents and is where Justin was born and raised. His family settled here in 1883 as part of the Homestead Act of 1862 granting settlers land if they lived on and ‘improved’ their properties. His family continues to both grow wheat and raise cattle. Crawford is located in the far northwest corner of the state in a part of the country notable due to its lack of large cities; Omaha is a 7.5 hour drive and Denver more than 4 hours.

Think this is a flat corn field dominated part of the state? Think again. This is far western Nebraska almost to Wyoming and South Dakota – part of the country feels and looks like high dessert with sagebrush and butte surroundings. Part of highway 71 not to far to the south of Crawford passes above 4,600 feet. A couple of places to check out when in town include the sizeable Crawford City Park (tent camping and RV hookups available), Crawford Historical Society and Museum, and the Prairie Agate Rock Shop. And stop the by exterior of the sheriff’s office; it looks like something from the old west or a facade you would see in an old western film.

We have visited villages, towns and cities around the planet connected to Napa Valley winery owners, most often through heritage. Some of these places are more interesting than others – Crawford is one of those communities. Walking down Main Street, the old and faded buildings echo optimism of decades past. Its ‘remote’ location has certainly contributed neighborliness born of distance. Those who know us, know how we detest cold weather (we won’t be visiting in the middle of winter), and conversely how much we enjoy heat. Our love of high temperatures and humidity made visiting Crawford, Nebraska in mid-July felt absolutely perfect.

See our photographs at the end of this profile resulting from our visit to Crawford.

During Justin’s wine research he discovered several hybrid varieties developed in Minnesota and Michigan as well as Norton (commonly planted in Missouri). Nurseries suggested he start with 50 vines of each variety, but he wanted to go bigger and ultimately 5 acres of vines were planted in 1997, eventually reaching a total of 8 acres. They bought a number of smudge pots from California growers, where the use of this technology was waning in favor of frost fans and sprinkler systems. They figured out that mixing in motor oil with diesel creates more smoke, effectively providing a larger footprint of warm air.

He and his childhood friend Rising, founded the third ever bonded winery in the state of Nebraska; they called their winery Lovers Leap Vineyards, named after a prominent outcropping of rock easily seen from their vineyards. While their vineyards were located outside of town, they opened their winery in downtown Crawford in late 1999 at 424-432 2nd Street. As of mid 2026, this building is unoccupied but is used for miscellaneous storage. This was also a family affair; Justin’s parents Dave and Mary were involved and his cousin George, a railroad conductor grew some of the grapes. For reference the first Nebraskan bonded winery was Cuthills Vineyards (1994) followed by James Arthur Vineyards (1997). According to Wikipedia there are now approximately 35 bonded wineries in the state.

One day on a lunch break in Crawford he met a friend who owned a hunting preserve in the area. His friend casually mentioned a winery owner from Sonoma who he met on his hunting reserve had seen the Lover’s Leap Winery sign and was inquiring about its owner and wanted to stop by and see the operations. Justin recalls being a bit intimidated to show this winemaker his basic options, knowing that his setup was probably far different than the winery owner utilized in Sonoma. Lover’s Leap Winery used old refrigerated dairy tanks. Justin remembers contacting owners of barns in the area housing these tanks and the owners giving him the tanks for free.

The Sonoma vintner was Sam Sebastiani (died 2025). Justin showed him his little operation; Sam asked the following question, “how did you learn how to make wine?” Justin told him about the two week course he and his father attended in the summer a few years back at Ohio State. At the time, Justin didn’t have a budget to buy oak barrels; there were none in the winery. Sam immediately noticed this and suggested that the wines should have some oak. He returned to Sonoma County; a few weeks later he called Justin and said something like, “I have some extra oak barrels you can have, I don’t know how you will get them home, but if you can, they are yours”.

This was in 2000, soon after Lover’s Leap Vineyards was founded. Justin flew to San Francisco, took at taxi to a Ryder Truck rental center and then drove the truck up to Viansa Winery, still under Sebastiani’s ownership at that time. He had no idea how many barrels Sebastiani would give him. Justin pulled up to the loading dock at Viansa; Sebastiani was there to greet him and immediately noticed Justin had no barrel racks. He instructed his employees to fill the truck with as many barrels as possibly would fit. He didn’t want any money for the barrels. Justin drove the Ryder truck back to Crawford.

And then a few days later, Sebastiani called Justin again, this time offering to fly his winemaker at the time out to Crawford to provide additional support. This was during harvest. His winemaker spent a day with Justin offering advice about making wine from the hybrids they were already growing and offering additional insights about barrel aging and cold stabilization including timing, temperatures, using cream of tartar, etc.

Justin served as president of the Nebraska Grape Growers Association, a group he co-founded with several other Nebraska winery owners. He hired a professional winemaker in 2002; the winery grew, always focusing on quality, eventually reaching a production of around 2,600 cases including from both grape wine and wines made from other locally grown fruits. One of their best tasting and selling wines was a barrel aged dry apple wine. The wines medaled at several competitions including in New York and Indiana. At one point, Lover’s Leap Winery operated a retail outlet closer to the 80 freeway. Eventually Justin sold the winery to his winemaker and several investors.

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Justin had thought about practicing dentistry in Napa Valley but soon realized there are already plenty of practicing dentists in the region. So he continued to visit as time allowed. Justin and Kristine attended their first Bottle Rock in the city of Napa in May 2022. Whenever he travels Justin enjoys checking Zillow to get an idea of property prices in the region. He noticed a certain property had significantly dropped its price that weekend. He called the real estate agent; soon both he and Kristine were admiring the views from this piece of property on Spring Mountain. He recalled the views were somewhat similar to where he and Rising had stayed on nearby Langtry Road. They put in an offer that day and it was accepted.

They wanted to eventually build a home on the property and perhaps make a little wine; the grapes were contracted for at the time. But as it happens, plans changed, in a big way. And in addition to building a home, they decided they wanted to build a winery. The property came with a number of coveted permits including being permitted to produce up to 15,000 gallons of wine a year, a sizable bond footprint inherited from the previous owner, visitation rights for hosting visitors, three existing and producing wells and shared water rights with a neighbor.

In talking with other winery owners or others in Napa Valley, the advice was to utilize local services as much as possible. Kristine searched online for a local architect and discovered Signum Architecture, whose office at the time was located in St. Helena. Ready to temporarily move in to the small cottage on their newly acquired property, they drove their old pickup truck from Oregon, loaded to the top with furniture from Ikea, two new mattresses still in their original packing and their silver Labrador. They met with the co-owner of the company and lead architect Juancarlos Fernandez at his office. They realized he was interviewing them. At the end of their brief meeting Juancarlos suggested they drive up to the property. He had never been on site but knew its location.

After arriving on site, Kristine remembers Juancarlos walked by himself to an overlook and spent 7 minutes solitary, lost in thought. He turned around and said, “I would like to build your home”. Justin and Kristine looked at each other and simultaneously said one word, “ok”. Remarkably within less than a year of hiring his services, construction had begun, both on their home and the winery.

Kristine’s parents were general contractors and owned a bridge building company; in a connection to Napa Valley, her father used to work with Hensel Phelps Construction, the company run by Joseph Phelps, the founder of Joseph Phelps Winery. She remembers one of her father’s last projects was Joseph Phelps Winery, including sourcing the redwood timbers for the winery in 1972 from near Annapolis in northern Sonoma County, when a bridge was being replaced. Her parents were also very involved in the national construction community; she remembers attending gatherings of industry leaders with her parents and hearing their stories, problems and solutions presented. But mostly she remembers their camaraderie and wine always being served, and the associated stories about the bottles.

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The previous owner of this property, Petrus Bekker worked in Silicon Valley in the biopharmaceutical industry. He began looking for a vacation property in Napa Valley; at the time of his search there were not many properties available for sale. This site was one of them. He was supposed to see this property with his real estate agent but she was sick and he ended up driving up Spring Mountain alone in search of the property.

It is somewhat fortuitous in regards to how Petrus met his original vineyard manager and winemaker Emil Tedeschi. While driving along the narrow windy Spring Mountain Road Petrus stopped by the side of the road to look out at the views and the property. Emil, a veteran winemaker in the valley stopped because he thought Petrus had broken down on the side of the road and needed help. And those who know Emil, know that his never ending curiosity is contagious. Little did he realize that this random meeting on the side of the road between two strangers would form the start of a relationship where Emil would become Petrus’s winemaker. Petrus ended up purchasing the property and planting vineyards in 2002.

And this chance meeting eventually led to Emil’s son, Mario Tedeschi becoming Petrus’s vineyard manager. After the transition in ownership, Mario became Aaadland Moody’s General Manger and continues to oversee the management of the vineyard.

The site had been previously planted by the Beringers in the 1940s but at the time of the replant in 2002 there were just a few old scraggly vines still growing. The estate is 15 acres, 9 of which of are planted to vines including several clones of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. We have walked through the vineyards on a number of occasions over the years. The vines grow on very steep and rocky soils. Productions as expected are low; typically 2 tons or less per acre are harvested annually. The site used to be planted to Golden Chasselas grapes which back in 1940s and 1950s was used for Beringer’s sherry.

While dining one fine evening at Dee Lincoln Prime in Frisco Texas, Justin and Kristine called the sommelier over to their table. They had a specific request, asking him if he had any Spring Mountain wines from Napa Valley in his cellar. He replied with something like, “I do have some wines from Pride Mountain, but your request is both timely and odd because I have a winemaker here this evening from Napa Valley who has a strong connection to Spring Mountain”.

Winemaker Krisi Raymond was at the same restaurant showcasing a couple of her own wines bottled under the brand, Five Vintners. The sommelier proceeded to bring Krisi over to their table for an introduction. She asked them what their connection was to Spring Mountain. Justin told her they had recently purchased a property and were planning on building a winery. It turned out that they had purchased the property that used to be owned by her grandparents. Her father was actually born on the property. And she told them all about her memories spent here including swimming in her grandparents pool in the summers.

Like many properties on Spring Mountain 2017, this site suffered significant damage from the Glass Fire. Sadly the original ranch style house dating from when the Beringer’s owned the property burnt to the ground, as did the wine cellar and all the wines housed within. And the small wooden bonded winery was also destroyed. The fire also burned part of the edges of the vineyard; we remember visiting this property during the fires, with flames still burning on site after the house was destroyed. The wine cellar had completely sunk into the ground. It was the first time we had ever sampled ripe grapes that had been significantly ‘torched’ by fire but not burned; they had become jammy and expressed flavors that were almost prune-like. One advantage according to Mario Tedeschi since the fire, is the loss of the surrounding forest has led to more sunshine hours, benefitting their vineyard.

Moody and Aadland built their home on the footprint of the previous house while also constructing a tasting room and overseeing the drilling of a nearly 7,000 square foot wine cave used for the production of their wines. 155,000 gallons of water spread over several tanks are available for use if needed – utilized by a sizeable stand along pump (required by the county). The first harvest under their ownership on the property was in 2023, a Cabernet Sauvignon; the first crush on the property was in 2026.

Select Wines
Whites
Justin has known the Hoxey Family, the owners of Ghost Block wines and Napa Wine Company for many years. The Aadland Moody wines were produced at Napa Wine Co., in 2023, 2024 and 2025. It was the Hoxey’s who introduced them to their winemaker Bob Pepi. The first wines released from Aadland Moody were Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, grown in Yountville on vineyards owned by the Hoxey family. There isn’t much Sémillon in Napa Valley, and these vines are particularly old – planted between the late 1960s and early 1980s.

Sauvignon Blanc
The 2024 Aadland Moody Sauvignon Blanc, Yountville Napa Valley is 77% Sauvignon Blanc and 23% Sémillon. This wine is pale straw in color; singing brightly, the fresh, floral, herbal and tangy bouquet sports scents of jasmine, orange blossom, pineapple, golden plums, apricot, passion fruit, pineapple guava, white peaches and nectarines with an aromatic higher-toned lift provided by aromas of lemon zest, grapefruit, lemongrass, thyme and tarragon. This wine is fully ripe at its listed 13.3% ABV, but leans more towards an herbal and citrusy expression of the variety, rather than tropical. Juicy, fresh and mouthwatering, this wine tastes like not fully ripe pineapple, green apple, guava, pear, passion fruit, honeydew melon, lemon juice, lemon verbena, lime and a light note of tarragon, most noticeable on the finish. Clean, zippy and invigorating, its silky texture is buoyed by its vivacious and persistent acidity. Offers a light saline or briny character. This wine should be paired with something fresh from the sea, preferably housed inside of two shells.

Sémillon
The 2024 Aadland Mood Sémillon, Yountville Napa Valley is 98.7% Sémillon and 1.3% Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is pale to medium straw in color; if we were smelling this wine in the middle of winter, our first thought would be of spring florals. Rather than showcasing California ripeness, a character often expressed with the rare Napa Valley wines made from this variety, the bouquet is achingly bright and vivid. It smells like star jasmine and citrus blossom, lemon zest, kaffir lime, lemongrass, green apple, honeydew melon, passion fruit, chamomile and chalk. On the palate there are flavors of pineapple guava, a flavor we are intimately familiar with having harvested these fruits every fall for more than 30 years from our favorite cemetery in Santa Rosa, not fully ripe pineapple, lemon juice, lime, crushed vitamins and lingering layers of lemongrass and tarragon. Silky textured. Its alcohol is a refreshing listed 12.3% ABV. Pair with lunch at a restaurant at the end of dock, on any of a number of islands in Thailand overlooking the beautiful waters of the Indian Ocean and a spicy Thai seafood salad. This wine was aged 100% sur lie in stainless steel barrels.

Chardonnay
The 2025 Aadland-Moody Chardonnay, Coombsville (Caldwell Vineyard) is made from clones 4 and ENTAV-INRA® 809, planted on 5C rootstock. This wine was fermented in 75% stainless steel and 25% neutral oak vessels, including a used foudre, and aged sur lie for 4–6 months. It did not undergo malolactic fermentation. This wine is medium gold in color; it smells fresh, bright and floral, including aromas of honeysuckle and jasmine. This is not an oaky or buttery expression. Other scents include passion fruit, golden apples, golden kiwi, pineapple, lemon zest and a layer of chamomile. Minerally, this wine offers flavors of golden apples, kiwi, white nectarine, papaya and pineapple, and a light finishing note of vanilla. There is a phenolic backbone here with some noticeable tug, but it is never heavy, as the bright acidity lifts the texture and keeps this wine fresh. Very balanced, with plenty of character to appeal to those who have crossed this variety off their “to-try” list based on trying inferior Chardonnays. This is an exceptional Chardonnay we would put in a lineup with any of Napa Valley’s premium wines from this variety.

Reds
The first red wines were released in late spring 2026 including their first bottling from the estate, the 2023 Aadland Moody Cabernet Sauvignon, Spring Mountain Napa Valley. And red wines are also being produced from similar elevation sites including from Atlas Peak, Mount Veeder, Howell Mountain and Diamond Mountain. The grapes for these wines have come from vineyards that Pepi or Tedeschi are already familiar with.

Cabernet Sauvignon
Spring Mountain
The 2023 Aadland-Moody Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain is deep ruby and nearly opaque; its aromas include dark plum, boysenberry and dried rose petals. At three years post vintage, this wine still smells youthful in terms of its oak integration; this will become more resolved as the wine ages in bottle. In addition to the fruit and floral notes, its scents include old cedar box, toast and dried sage. Immediately bright on the palate, there is a lively thread of acidity at play, keeping this wine fresh and mouthwatering. Red-fruited, this is a lovely expression of this vintage and Spring Mountain. This wine tastes like red cherry, Santa Rosa plum, underripe boysenberry, currant, cranberry and smoked cedar. The tannins, including both wood and grape, are already texturally seamlessly integrated, finishing with a gravelly and well-tumbled character, gently felt primarily on the front of the palate. Its ABV is 13.8%.

Howell Mountain
The 2023 Aadland-Moody Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is from clone 337 planted in a well-established vineyard at 1,800 feet above sea level. This wine is deep ruby in color; it smells like Santa Rosa plum, blackberry, red cherry and currant, with some floral elements, including rose petals and lavender. Other scents are barrel-contributed, including dark chocolate, toast, cinnamon stick, espresso and smoked cedar. This is a bright expression of the variety, the site and the vintage, with the acidity balanced and singing soprano. On the palate, there are flavors of red cherry, currant, cranberry, strawberry that is not fully ripe and blueberry. The tannins are broadly dispersed across the palate with a gravelly and well-tumbled feel. It finishes with a note of smoked cedar and lingering acidity, both of which outpace the fruit. The woodsy barrel spice notes are very much evident in this bottling at three years post vintage. Its ABV is 14.1%.

Mt. Veeder
The 2023 Aadland-Moody Cabernet Sauvignon, Mt. Veeder is made from grapes sourced from a vineyard located in the southern part of this sub-appellation. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque; on the bouquet, the oak is the most integrated of the three inaugural bottlings. This wine smells like dark plum, cherry, blackberry, rose petals, lavender, dark chocolate and a hint of smoked sage. This wine tastes red-fruited, with flavors of cherry, currant, cranberry and not fully ripe blueberries. The oak shows more on the palate than on the bouquet, lingering with flavors of toasted oak. The tannins are very much present, with a persistent gravelly, dusty and lightly grainy grip that outpaces the fruit on the earthy finish. A lively vein of acidity contributes freshness and overall lift. Like all their red wines from the 2023 vintage, this bottling was aged for 24 months in 100% new French oak barrels.

Tasting Salon

Winery Cave

Aaeternum
Aaeternum is Latin for “eternal” and is a barrel selection blend from their single AVA mountain site bottlings.

The 2023 Aeternum is deep ruby and opaque; in terms of the bouquet, both its fruit and barrel aromatics are expressed sweeter than the single-AVA bottlings. This wine smells like blackberry pie, dark cherry, plum compote, blueberry, mocha, espresso, toast and cocoa powder. From the bouquet alone in a blind tasting, knowing nothing else about this wine, one might surmise that the palate would be a riper expression of the variety and these sites, but it clearly maintains the Aadland-Moody style and integrity. Fresh, with vibrant acidity, this wine tastes like red cherry, currant, cranberry, Persian mulberry and a light and finishing note of dried tobacco leaf. The tannins are broadly distributed across the palate with a long-lasting, dusty presence. They are never edgy, offering a gravelly and lightly grainy feel. The majority of the grapes in this bottling are from Spring Mountain followed by Howell Mountain with the trailing percentage from Mt. Veeder.

Cabernet Franc
The 2024 Aadland-Moody Cabernet Franc, Howell Mountain is deep ruby and opaque; sweetly fruited and ripe, the bouquet smells like red plums, boysenberry, blackberry, dried tobacco leaf, mountain sage, dark chocolate, cocoa powder and toasted oak. The aromatics offer a crowd-friendly expression of this variety, as does the palate. No greenness here. Despite the higher ABV (listed as 15.6%), the alcohol doesn’t necessarily feel hot—just a gentle warmth at the back of the palate. This wine offers a union of red and blue fruits, including cherry, boysenberry, currant, cranberry and blueberry. It finishes with notes of dried sage, bay leaf, lavender and old cedar box. The acidity is bright but balanced. The tannins are gravelly, with a grainy, youthful and still tightly woven grip at two years post vintage. We tasted this one year prior to general release.

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Rather than hire an established branding and graphic design firm from within the wine industry, they reached out to Joshua Scott, the owner and CEO of Ohio based Studio 8E8, a dental marketing agency. Studio 8E8 designed their elegant and eye catching label. And it turns out that Joshua is a level three sommelier; he sat in with Pepi for one of their blending sessions. This was his company’s first wine label design.

Hospitality
Opened for visitors in fall 2026, tastings at the winery are hosted by either Justin or Kristine, with a small team who can fill in for them in their absence. Tastings occur in a stand alone contemporary tasting salon located to the exterior of the cave entrance with additional lounge seating in front of the tasting room affording one exceptional views of woodlands, vineyards and the valley below.

Two stone lion statues once stood at the driveway entrance. Having survived several fires, they now ‘guard’ the entrance to the tasting salon.

One of two sizable wooden tables is located inside the tasting salon, hewed from a giant Douglas Fir which was killed by the Glass Fire of 2020. The wood was air dried for three years before it was milled into tables. And the second table from the same tree is located in a cave grotto where they host their barrel tasting experience. Remarkably, this table still shows burn scars from the Hanley Fire of 1964. The chandelier above the table here is made with 158 small pieces of glass that Justin installed, each one by hand.

Both Justin and Kristine appreciate that their neighbors have been so open and willing to share information. And they want to pass that on to their visitors, helping break down some of the perceived intimidation barriers to entry associated with wine. Part of their hospitality is educational including trying the same wines from different sized and shaped stemware and noticing the resulting differences and tasting the same wines from barrels made in the exact same manner including three years air dried, fire bent and medium plus toast levels. The only difference being the forests where these trees grew.

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At full production, the total amount of wines produced will be approximately 2,000 cases annually. The wines are sold primarily direct to consumer but with some limited distribution to places Justin and Kristine regularly frequent including Portland, Scottsdale, Nebraska, South Dakota and Texas. The Founders Allocation is offered twice yearly, either shipments of 3, 6 or 12 bottles.

For more information, to purchase wine or to make a reservation for a tasting, visit: www.aadlandmoody.com