About The Vineyard…

Sourced from Ed and Camille Penhoet’s Carmel Valley property, the River Ranch vines were planted in 1982.  Of particular interest, the cuttings were originally sourced from a prestigious vineyard in Burgundy in the ‘70s and subsequently brought in to California.  This is the Mother block for the more recent planting at the Toyon Farm, which forms our designate from that vineyard.  It is a sandy soiled site with geology tracing to the meanderings of the Carmel River as well as its proximity to the Pacific Ocean.

About The Vintage...

The 2023 season was late and cool, ripening in late October at our coolest site.  The cool bloom led to poor crop set and a very meager crop of excellent intensity.  The daily effect of the cold ocean breezes funneling into the Carmel Valley ensure a very, very long hang time.

About the Wine...

In typical fashion at Ancien, the grapes are gravity fed to one-ton open top tanks where the punch-downs were done by hand.  Coupled with the warm fermentation, the generous extraction emphasizes the texture and racy spice inherent in the terroir of this vineyard.  Aging for 11 months in barrel with a single racking carried this wine gently to the bottle.  95 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

Spice, tea, and plum and blackberry aromas dance atop currants and boysenberry pie.  The opulence continues with secondary notes of chocolate and black tea that lead to satisfying elegant finish revealing jasmine.  The finish is mouthwatering and long with presenting umami, soy, and Asian spice.  Planted to the same special cuttings as our block at the Toyon Farm in Carneros, they are a joy tasting side by side, illustrating the profound influence of terroir.

About The Vineyard…

Our association with Toyon Farm has been a grand partnership dating back to 1998.  The next generation has begun as Rob Bonavito has taken the reins of this exceptional vineyard.  It is located on a southwest-facing slope on the eastern (Napa) side of the Carneros.  The topsoil is dark rich clay, averaging just around 24 inches in depth.  These soils promote dark brooding fruit, emphasizing texture and tannin.  The Toyon designate is now entirely from a block of Pinot noir planted on the north slope of the vineyard.   The cuttings are originally from a famous vineyard in Burgundy, via Ed Penhoet’s River Ranch vineyard planted in the ‘70s (and beginning in 2017 an Ancien vineyard designate).  As the original source of the Pisoni vineyard – it also referred to as “Pisoni Clone” or River Ranch selection, which preceded it.

About The Vintage...

The 2023 growing season was late, long and cool.  We finished the season with one of our latest vintages.  Ample Spring moisture launched the vines into the season and created enough growth and vigor to carry the vines through to the end of this long season.  While warmer conditions have prevailed in other areas, the coastal areas of California continue to benefit from the maritime influence and moderating influence that it brings.

About The Wine…

We separate the lot into 1 ton, open-top fermenters, employing traditional punch-downs by hand in order to achieve optimal extraction.  About 5% of the fruit was fermented as whole clusters.  The wine was aged in an array of French cooperage, nearly half new, and gently racked once prior to bottling.  Grapes, must, and wines were moved using gravity through to the barrel and with a gentle push of inert gas through racking and bottling.  95 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

The 2023 vintage is a particularly aromatic version of the Toyon Farm Pinot Noir, still its primary personality is toward darker deeper flavors of wild blackberries, chocolate, and kirsch.  The texture, characteristically, is lush in texture, soft and mouthcoating.  Chewy tannins and fresh herbs linger in the finish.  It is a Pinot Noir on the bolder side, well suited for richer dishes and reduction sauces.  Drinking very well at release, and will continue to evolve for 4 – 7 years.

About The Vineyard…

Our Chardonnay owes it style, depth, and structure to intensely flavored, low yielding, heirloom clones grown at the Toyon Farm on the Napa side of Carneros.  This was a collaborative and custom planting building on a relationship with Toyon Farm dating all the way back to 1998.  The vines have fully developed and elevated to the status of vineyard designate from the rows planted in the Center Block.  The origin of these cuttings are reputed to have origins tracing to Paul Masson who imported them from Burgundy in the early 1940’s, from Louis Latour's renowned Corton Charlemagne vineyard.  These selections are often referred to as “Old Wente” denoting the sourced mother block in the 1960s.

About The Vintage...

The 2022 growing season follows on the superb 2021 season.  An early season cold spell and inclement weather during bloom led to low crop levels.  While warmer conditions have prevailed in other areas, the coastal areas of California continue to benefit from the maritime influence and moderating influence that it brings.  Just as the grapes were approaching ripeness, a late August heat spell brought the grapes in with nice acidity, concentration and balance.

About The Wine...

We aspire to guide our Chardonnay toward a layered, complex, and expressive style that develops gracefully in the bottle and shows enticing minerality, vivacious fruit, length and structure.  We pressed the grapes as whole clusters, settled and fermented entirely in French oak from four different coopers, chosen for their unique synergies and complementing the lush fruit on the palate.  One third of the barrels were new.  We use a variety of yeasts, including native strains, with fermentation proceeding evenly and slowly -  averaging a cool 55°F.  The wine was aged on its yeast lees, which were stirred through the spring.  377 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

Enticing aromas of citrus zest, stone fruit and hints of ripe apple.  It is at once textured and concentrated on the palate while retaining is liveliness with refreshing acidity.  The flavors build through a crescendo with accents of honeydew, lime, Meyer lemon and crème brulee balanced by a creamy palate.  The lingering finish is framed by mouthwatering minerality as the complex fruit reverberates on the palate.

About The Vineyard…

The Mink Vineyard is located in the Coombsville Viticultural Area of Napa Valley.  Open to the same morning fogs and afternoon breezes that cool Carneros to the west, Coombsville is consistently one of the coolest pockets in Napa.  Mink sits inside a small “bowl”, allowing cooler air to settle during the evenings, and making Mink’s mesoclimate a couple degrees cooler, even, than the surrounding hills.  But the real secret to Mink’s explosive flavors, smooth, mouth-coating minerality, comes from the soil. Underneath is a layer of compressed volcanic ash. This provides exceptional drainage while storing moisture in its porous structure. The vines are able, with some work, to grow roots into the ash layer, accessing moisture during the long, dry growing season.

About The Vintage…

The 2022 growing season was characterized by a colder than usual Fall followed by a cool Spring.  The vines struggled to grow early, resulting in less growth and a very small crop.  The Summer was seasonably on the cool side until a final heat spell quickly finished the ripening season in early September.  A strong and elegant vintage even if the growing season was a more challenging one.

About The Wine…

The grapes were destemmed into small, one-ton, open-top fermenters, with traditional hand punch downs, and aged the wine in Billon cooperage, a barrel that tends to sit subtly underneath the delicate fruit, lifting aromas without crowding them.  The wines were racked once, gently, prior to bottling.   Grapes, must, and wines were moved using gravity through to the barrel and a gentle push with inert gas through racking and bottling.  275 cases produced.

Tasting Notes…

The 2022 Mink Pinot Noir exhibits bright and refreshing notes of blueberry, pomegranate, allspice, and fresh herbs.  It gradually opens to deeper and darker berry fruit, blueberry and plum.  The vintage is elegant, emphasizing the minerality of the terroir.  Look for additional layers and depth to emerge in the months after release.  It will continue to improve over the next 4 - 7 years and can age well beyond a decade as shown by its 20+ year track record.

About The Vineyard...

Dick Shea planted his first vines in the late 80’s, just a few short years after Ken Bernards moved from his birthplace in the Willamette Valley to Napa to work his first harvest.  The vineyards have grown, along with Shea’s reputation for quality, and today his vines produce a disproportionately large percentage of the most renowned Willamette Pinot Noirs - often described as an Oregon "Grand Cru".  Sedimentary soils, sitting on well-drained hillsides, along with careful, sustainable farming practices, consistently yield quality, well-ripened fruit in a viticultural area known for wide vintage variation.  Both wine makers and wine connoisseurs look to Shea for Pinot Noirs with density, structure, and intense, spicy fruit.

About The Vintage...

The 2021 vintage was another warm one in Oregon.  Record heat hit early in the season when the vines were apparently still adaptable – and almost seemed to condition them for the drier season to come.  Our 2021 Shea comes from an older block of Pommard clone Pinot Noir in the Back Block that Dick offered to us as the Swan clone planted for us was not yet producing.  What a great transitional year for us!  The wine possesses great old vine depth, we will move to youthful lushness beginning in 2022!

About The Wine...

Our Shea, like all our Pinot Noirs, is fermented traditionally in one ton, open top containers using hand punch downs to achieve optimal extraction.  A very warm fermentation enhanced the wines texture, seeing peaks in the mid-90 F range.  Gravity provided movement from reception through pressing with inert gas used from then on.  It was aged in François Frères and Remond cooperage for twelve months and racked once in the springtime.  158 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

Juicy and textured in the palate.  Classic Shea notes of dried flowers, boysenberry, with subtle earthiness.  Hints of cinnamon, cardamom and anise follow below and echo on the palate.  As the wine opens, the broad berry fruit  is generous and complex, expressing notes of tea, and potpourri.  The 2021 vintage is a more forward version from Shea, but still possesses its characteristic tannic structure – boding well for its future development.  Enjoy now or years down the road!

About the Vineyard…

Jouissance is sourced from the single vineyard established and farmed by Mark Lingenfelder at his home estate.  Mark’s decades of experience as a vineyard manager and consulting viticulturalist have provided him the depth of experience to reach the pinnacle at his own property.  Having worked with storied wineries over the years, we are grateful our paths have crossed enabling us to work with him for our Russian River designate.  He tends the vines himself while relying on neighbor Lee Martinelli to provide additional help at the peak times.  We work with a mix of Pommard and Dijon 667 vines from his oldest and youngest blocks – aged wisdom combines with youthful vigor!

 About The Vintage...

The 2022 growing season follows on the exceptional 2021 season.  An early season cold spell and inclement weather during bloom led to low crop levels.  The low crop, combined with late August/early September heat brought the grapes to full ripeness earlier than average.  To mediate the effect of the heat, as the Lingenfelder Pinot noir needed more time on the vine to ripen, overhead sprinklers were used to cool vines – a rare but very useful tool!  The resultant wines possess lively acidity and a bit more tannic structure than the 2021 versions. 

About the Wine...

We fermented in our one ton, open-top tanks after filling by gravity.  A warm fermentation with a combination of native and isolated Burgundian yeasts produced excellent and focused flavor extraction, complemented with traditional punch-downs by hand. The wine was aged entirely in Francois Freres cooperage, 40% new, and racked once, gently, prior to bottling.  Grapes, must, and wines were moved using gravity through to the barrel and using inert gas through racking and bottling.   151 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

Bright fruit notes dominate the aromas with bright cherry, plum, and boysenberry underlaid by allspice and clove.  On the palate the wine is liquid velvet, it’s silkiness segueing into a burst of fruit and spice that rides high on the palate while gradually opening to deeper berry, tea, and baking spices.  It is a refreshing and lively Pinot Noir in its youth that will continue to fill out in depth and complexity over the next 2-5 years.

About The Vineyard…

The Thornton Vineyard is situated on the ridge above the Petaluma Gap.  At 1400 ft elevation, it receives a very direct ocean influence even if somewhat mediated by its slightly protected eastern exposure.  The stunning view from the vineyard faces east across the southern Sonoma Valley to the Mayacamas.  It is such a cool site, our vineyard crew has nicknamed this block Alaska!  It is planted to a famous if shy bearing Pinot Noir heirloom selection, Calera, known for it’s concentration.  The soils consist of lava rock and decomposed volcanic sediment.  An exceptional combination of Pinot Noir selection and site, producing boldly colored and richly flavored wines of great concentration.

About The Vintage...

The 2022 vintage at Thornton was characteristically cool with a very small crop of exceptional intensity.  A cold, dry winter held the vines back in terms of fruitfullness. 

About The Wine...

The grapes were destemmed into our 1-ton, open top fermenters and cold soaked for 4 days.  We punched down by hand 4 times per day tapering down as the fermentation progressed.  A warm fermentation, peaking about 94°, with additional maceration and skin contact ensured a generous extraction from these stubborn grapes.  The wine was aged in French barrels from the Tonnellerie Remond and Francois Freres cooperage, 40% of them new.  The wine was racked once prior to bottling.  Until bottling, all wine movements were made by pushing with inert gas.  102 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

Densely colored Pinot Noir bursting of red berry fruit, wild cherry, and blueberry.  Very primal at first, with unctuous texture and loaded with fruit.  Long flavors with bright mouthwatering acidity delineate the palate.  As the wine opens, glimpses of its underlying structure appear, but are largely overwhelmed by its lush forward fruit.  With time, the wine gradually opens up to greater complexity with spice notes and subtle hibiscus notes.  Drinking beautiful now, full of volutpuous fruit, but with a structure and intensity to age well for years to come.

About The Vineyard…

The Red Dog Vineyard sits near the top of Sonoma Mountain on the cool, western side.  In 2000 Tom and Debbie Engel planted this vineyard - with the replant happening in 2015.   We used cuttings from our Mink Vineyard - a proprietary heirloom selection of Swan Pinot Noir.  The vineyard is situated on the eastern face of a ridge, with the highest point just under 1000 feet elevation.  At this height, Pacific currents moving inland through the Petaluma Gap cool the vineyard almost continually.  The soils are some of the most ancient soils in Sonoma County and have been leached of nutrients by wind and rain for eons. It is a truly spectacular vista point but a challenging place to grow grapes.

About The Vintage...

The 2022 growing season follows on the exceptional 2021 season.  An early season cold spell and inclement weather during bloom led to low crop levels.  Well timed rains, together with the lower crop, ensured nice growth.  A late heat spell in early September brought the grapes to full ripeness earlier than average. 

About The Wine...

The grapes were destemmed into our 1-ton, open top fermenters and cold soaked for 4 days.  We punched down by hand 4 times per day tapering down as the fermentation progressed.  A warm fermentation, peaking about 92°, with additional maceration and skin contact ensured a generous extraction from these stubborn grapes.  The wine was aged entirely in French barrels from the Tonnellerie Remond cooperage, 50% of which were new.  The wine was racked once prior to bottling.  Until bottling, all wine movements were made by pushing with inert gas.  175 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

Floral notes that dance above the glass reveal the essence of Red Dog Pinot Noir.  The nose is dominated with elegant aromas of raspberry, rose hips, with subtle tangerine notes followed by deeper aromas of tea and cedar.  Spice notes of lavender, hibiscus and sage, the fruit expands in the glass and fills the palate with fresh pomegranate, cherry, and mandarin.  It opens slowly in the glass providing evidence of great things to come.  This is a very lively wine that surprises the palate from beginning to end.  Drink at release or lay down for  7 to 10 years plus.

About The Vineyard…

The Fiddlestix Vineyard is located in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, which straddle the Santa Ynez River as it makes its way to the Pacific Ocean.  As an East-West oriented valley, opening its mouth to the cool Pacific breezes, the consistent and cooling marine influence is significant.  The remarkably consistent weather, characterized by lower highs and higher lows than our North Coast vineyards, conspires with silica-laden, marine sedimentary soils to make wines of power and exceptional structure.  We were able to select our rows prior to our first vintage in 2003, entering our 20^th vintage with these same vines!

About The Vintage...

The 2022 growing season follows on the exceptional 2021 season.  An early season cold spell and inclement weather during bloom led to low crop levels.  The low crop, combined with late August/early September heat brought the grapes to full ripeness earlier than average.  The resultant wines possess lively acidity and a bit more tannic structure than the 2021 versions. 

About The Wine...

The grapes were 100% destemmed into an open top fermenter and cold soaked for 4 days.  We utilized hand punchdowns extracting just what we wanted from the fruit.  The juice was fermented with a combination of RC212 and BRL yeasts selected from Burgundy and Barolo, with peak temperatures of  between 92 - 94°F in our small 1 ton vats.  The wine was aged for 12 months in a blend of Francois Frères and Remond cooperage - we prefer to source our oak barrels from the small French forest of Bertrange, as we find it pairs beautifully with the Fiddlestix fruit.

Tasting Notes...

Structure, texture, exotic spice are hallmarks of the Fiddlestix Vineyard.  The 2022 vintage exhibits deep color with plum, pie cherry, dark berry fruit, cardamom, accented by fresh herbs and allspice.   Layers of Indian spice, pepper, and subtle whiffs of potpourri lend the oft recognized signature of this vineyard.  The wine is firmly structured and with vibrant acidity, boding well for evolution in the bottle.  Enjoy now or over the next 2 to 10 years.