The Family That Works Together ...Budge Brown, Founder & His Daughter, Kristi Brown, President

Budge Brown has been farming in California for over 50 years. When asked about his educational background (although he is a UC Davis graduate) he will smile and tell you he graduated from the School of Hard Knocks with a degree in Trial and Error and an emphasis in Blood, Sweat and Tears. His dream was to own a winery and share the experience with his family; his daughter, Kristi, took him up on his offer.

It all started with the Mount Oso Vineyard in one of the most recently appointed appellations, Tracy Hills AVA, and a crush facility in Kelseyville, California. The 2001 harvest was just around the corner and Budge needed a home for his fruit. Budge, being who he is, achieved what was close to a miracle. He was able to obtain the necessary permits and put his winery together in just eight short weeks! The Mount Konoctt Growers facility created a cozy home for Tulip Hill's 2001-2003 vintages while he continued to search for the perfect, permanent home for Tulip Hill Winery.

The First Tasting Room For Tulip Hill
In 2001, Kristi Brown joined her father in his endeavor, and she quickly came to the realization they needed a tasting room! Kristi, who lives in the Palm Springs area, found the perfect location, The River at Rancho Mirage. On December 8th, 2002, the doors opened for Tulip Hill Winery's first tasting room. The River offers large format restaurants, multi-screen cinema and many different and unique shops with a river running through the middle of it all.

This isn't the typical tasting room. It is located over 520 miles away from the winery, approximately 1000 square feet situated within an outdoor destination center that is 20 minutes east of Palm Springs. Tulip Hill is established as the "only" winery tasting room in the desert creating a unique destination for locals and visitors to the desert.

New Home for Tulip Hill Winery
In March of 2003, Budge found a permanent home for Tulip Hill Winery at the historic Bartlett Springs water bottling building built by Vittel Mineral Water Co in 1985. After many long days of clean up and renovation, this revamped location became home to Tulip Hill Winery and Visitor Center. Located on the North Shore of Clear Lake, the largest natural lake in California that rests at the base of Mount Konocti, a now dormant volcano, Tulip Hill Winery sits in a stunning and picturesque setting.

On October 2nd, 2004, Tulip Hill Winery celebrated the grand opening of its new location. In addition to the winery and visitor’s center, we also feature a tasting room, special event/outdoor tent and lawn area (perfect for weddings!) and gardens planted with seasonal flora , as well as more than 30,000 tulips - a sight not to be missed. Please join us on the last Saturday in March for our Festival of Tulips - a delightful day of wine, food, music, and tulips, tulips, tulips.

Lake County
Lake County is a wine region that is on-the-grow with currently 27 local wineries that host the Annual Lake County Wine Adventure, a two-day passport event offering stellar wines and the best local accompaniments that Lake County has to offer. Amazingly, many are just discovering this region and its five AVA's (American Viticulture Area) which are Lake County; Benmore Valley, Clear Lake, Guenoc Valley, High Valley and Red Hills.

Lake County has a history of vineyards and winemaking going back to the late 1800's. Prohibition was the "kiss of death" for both the vineyards and wineries of Lake County. The second hit on this region was the isolation and lack of development of the railroads prohibiting cost-effective transportation of grapes to market. During this time, grape growing in neighboring counties such as Napa and Mendocino were prospering. A post-prohibition revival of grape gowning began in the late 1960's. A handful of vineyards and wineries were in Lake County from 1975-2000, leading us to today with a rapid expansion of wineries throughout the region.

Other Family Brands & Wineries - Cellar Select, Trace & Cleavage Creek

Budge and Kristi are not the type of people that sit still ...Budge and Kristi have each developed additional brands, as well as a new national brand for Tulip Hill, Cellar Select., Cellar Select.

Trace Wines™ is a national "value brand" launched by Kristi Brown in August of 2007 introducing a wine that is fun in it's packaging, but very serious in its stylistic approach. The wines are fruit forward, approachable and balanced with just the right amount of oak influence...easy on your pocket book.

Cleavage Creek™ is Budge Brown's philanthropic labor of love, featuring a breast cancer survivor on each label with 10% of the gross sales gifted to breast cancer research. Although the label moniker may surprise you, we encourage you to find out more about the message and the hearts behind this brand.