THE TRAVEL ISSUE
46
Dank Destination
the madrones of mendocino exploring the stunning multi-faceted retreat home to a cannabis farm, cannabis retail shop, wine tasting room and more
leafmagazines.com
THE MAJESTY of Mendocino County, with its rolling hills, towering redwoods and craggy coastline, has inspired Cannabis cultivators and winegrowers to plant roots for decades. Legacy farms nestle next to legendary vineyards in its famed agricultural regions, benefiting from the unique microclimates created by the varied landscape and sunny inland weather colliding with the coastal patterns blowing in from the western shoreline. It’s this breathtaking confluence of characteristics, along with the romance of nature, that inspired Jim Roberts and Brian Adkinson to create their own experiential enclave here. That, and the fact that the area is great for producing two of their favorite things: Cannabis and wine. “The position of the Valley is east-west, not north-south, and because of that we pull the fog in from the coast at night, and it goes back out in the day,” Adkinson said. “So we have cool nights and hot days that make it perfect for growing Pinot Noir.”
MAY 2022
As self-described “partners in work and life,” Adkinson and Roberts founded an ensemble of boutique businesses just outside the town of Philo, in order to offer an array of opportunities for visitors and locals alike to enjoy the flavors and beauty of a region famed for its heritage apples, sheep, Cannabis and wine. Operating two retreats with overnight accommodations, the 5,000-square-foot Sugar Hill Cannabis farm, a Cannabis retail location, a wine tasting room, and an events facility all next door to one another – the pair are basically collecting everything they love about the region under their own umbrella. It’s an obvious but rare concept to create a Cannabis tourism destination in a region famous for wine tourism. After all, though it’s still not legal for members of the general public to simply tour Cannabis grows, it’s the natural progression for the community to start to act more like the analogous wine and beer industries as it wades into the mainstream. “There are a lot of things to do up here,” Adkinson said. “Hiking, wine tasting, cheese
