The vineyard is located 1.5 miles east of Occidental and 7 miles west of the Pacific Ocean on a gently rolling plateau at an elevation of 800 feet.
Retrait was the first winery to bottle a single-vineyard Chardonnay from the vineyard with the 1994 vintage.
The Retry plots are grown exclusively using organic farming methods.
Retry is a small winery that started in 1993 and produces Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
After earning a degree in oenology from the University of Dijon in France, Ted Lemon gained experience working for some of Burgundy's top producers, including Georges Roumier, Bruno Clair, Paran, Domaine de Villaine and Dujac, and worked at Guy Roulot as the first American head grower and winemaker in the Côte d'Or.
After returning to the United States, he joined Ch. Waltner as its founding winemaker and also worked as a consultant for notable wineries in California, including Franciscan and Clos Pegase, Archery Summit in Oregon, and in New Zealand.
When he and his wife Heidi decided to start their own winery, they traveled along the West Coast, from as far north as Seattle to as far south as Santa Barbara, searching for a place where they could achieve the quality and style he desired, eventually settling on the cool shoreline of the North Coast.
In an era when rich Pinot Noir was the norm, Retraie's wines did not receive much praise, but they were discovered by California sommeliers searching for elegant fine wines to enjoy with meals, and gradually gained fame.Today, they are respected by many winemakers as pioneers of delicate styles of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
He is a leading member of "In Pursuit of Balance," a group of producers that has been gaining attention in recent years for their emphasis on balance and for their delicate winemaking (IPOB disbanded in 2016). The book "The New California Wine," written by famous American wine writer Jon Bonnet, introduces the new generation of California winemakers who do not focus on concentration, and featured Ted on the cover as a symbol of the winery, which caused a great stir.
He is also known as one of California's most devout biodynamic practitioners.