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The Vineyards of vintage 2002 |
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Alder Springs Ranch is located in far Northern Mendocino County, just west of Laytonville. It is absolutely the most meticulously planned and maintained vineyard that I know of anywhere, the benchmark to which I measure all others. The vines lie between 1500’ and 2700’ and are planted in soil of decomposing sandstone. Owner Stuart Bewley has spared no expense and overlooked no detail in his quest to grow the finest wine grapes in the world. The vines are planted in very high densities with the best clonal material available. This results low pounds of fruit per vine, small berries, tons of flavor, and consistently uniform physiological ripeness. I eagerly look forward to making more and more wine from Alder Springs time goes on. It is a very special place. |
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Kenefick Ranch Bar none one of my favorite vineyards anywhere. Located on Rosedale and Pickett roads within what I think is the finest microclimate in Calistoga. It is situated at the foot of the Palisades Mountains on well-drained volcanic soil. All of the wines from this vineyard exhibit super dark color with loads of extract and concentration, my kind of wines. Right across the street are the Eisele and Frediani Vineyards, two parcels that produce fruit for some of my favorite wines to drink. Starting in 2003 we also began acquiring Cabernet Sauvignon and Cab Franc from this wonderful place. I recommend starting to look forward to this right about now.
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Fortuna Vineyard Ancient red volcanic soils from the adjacent Vaca Range are what set this vineyard apart from other Oakville vineyards on the valley floor. It actually sits on a bench above the valley floor and is the beginning of the slope up into the mountains at the corner of the Oakville Cross Rd. and the Silverado Trail. Our Merlot was picked from a block in the NW corner of the property. Neighbors include Plumpjack, Rudd, Dalla Valle, and Screaming Eagle.
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Skellinger Vineyard is located at the corner of Conn Creek and Skellinger Roads in the northeast corner of the Oakville AVA, a half mile from the Silverado Trail. 100% of the fruit for the Oakville Cabernet was sourced from this site which is a blend of equal parts of cabernet sauvignon clone 8 & 337. The soils here could best be described as a gravely loam. This is valley floor fruit, producing a wine with classic Oakville characteristics. The wines emerging from here are consistently dark, rich, and well structured with powerful aromatics. |
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St. Helena “Cabernet Vineyard” Located at a bottle neck in the valley, on highway 29, two miles north of the town of St. Helena. This little vineyard has excellent climatic conditions due to its unique location and very shallow, rocky soil that naturally limit the vigor and yield of these vines. For many years this has been the estate vineyard of a well known winery, and they just happened to have had a small amount of fruit for us in 2002. In fact, I think our version is better than any other wine I’ve tasted from this specific site! It probably won’t happen again, but we’re glad we had the chance to get what we did as the wine is incredible! . |
