PINOT NOIR

We produce five estate vineyard designated pinot noirs and one estate pinot noir from a blend of our grape sites.

The 3 Rows

We planted 3 rows of Pinot noir in 1989 from bud wood I received from Tom Rochioli. Originally very prolific vines have matured into vines of great character and very low yields. These wines are usually not for early drinking, and have the longest cellar potential.

The North Slope

This begins four feet from the end of the South slope and continues to slope to the North. It is 100% French clone 115. The close proximity to the South slope does not influence these flavors as clone 115 exhibits the most fruit driven flavors and appears more "New World" then French.

The South Slope

The South Slope begins at the highest elevation and the furthest South of all of our Vineyards blocks. It slopes from South to North about 45 feet and it's soils are predominantly sandy loam. The berry size is medium with a high berry count giving cluster weight that has yields approaching 2 1/4 tons/acre (our highest yields). It is 100% French clone 777, and tends to show it's earthy side far more then our other clones. Although this wine definitely has a French origin, each year it becomes more and more new world.

Cahill Lane

A blend of 3 clones, clone 114, clone 115, and the Rochioli Pommard clone, are grown each on its own one acre site. The vines were planted in 1989 and are in their peak, quality wise. The Rochioli pommard and the clone 115 contribute red berry and cherry flavors and the clone 114 adds a dimension of herbal flavors giving Cahill Lane an Old world character.

Cuvee Alyce

Alyce was my Mom and she was the life of the party.

There is a section of vineyard right in the middle of the North slope where the soils are very heavy adobe clay resulting in the vines struggling to produce a crop more than 1 ton to the acre. It is a field blend of clone 777 and 115. This minimal crop yield tends to produce wines that are big, rich, "over the top" flavors; perfect for "Alyce"

The Estate Vineyards

The core of this wine is from the Meadows Vineyard in which 100% comes from the Rochioli Selection. We add in a little Swan clone from our West 12 rows and a barrel here and there. This is truly representative of all of our Vineyard sites.

ROSE OF PINOT NOIR

I have a few rows of pinot noir that rarely reach ultimate ripening so I normally sell these grapes. However, in 2013 I let them hang all the way into October. The result was the sugars stuck at 22 brix but the flavors were very complex for under ripe fruit. Therefore, I tried for the first time Rose of Pinot Noir. We pressed the grapes as wholeclusters like chardonnay and later after fermentation, added back some wine from our pinot barrels to give it the rose color. It is fresh, crisp and a great summer wine.