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...

A wet Spring started off the vines with ample moisture resulting in nice growth.  A long mild summer ended with cooler conditions down the important stretch run, with some nicely timed heat spikes before.  The vintage yielded slightly below average quantity with excellent mouth filling tannins and generous richness of fruit.  Carmel Valley is one of our coolest terroirs, with its proximity to the Pacific Ocean and cooler valley location.

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.  97 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

Coming from the mother vines that our section of Toyon Farm is planted to in Carneros, this second vintage from Carmel Valley definitely shows the same strength and complexity this legendary River Ranch selection of Pinot Noir gives shining in both wines.  Spice filled and smoothly broad on the palate, this wine greets with notes of currants and boysenberry pie.  The opulence continues with secondary notes of chocolate and black tea that lead to satisfying elegant finish revealing jasmine.  We recommend enjoying this and comparing it with our Carneros Toyon Farm Pinot Noir from the same vintage.  Both wines are drinking wonderfully in their youth and will only get better as they age to reveal the true decadence they have to offer.

About The Vineyard…

Toyon Farm 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 a 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.  As the original source of the Pisoni vineyard – it also referred to as “Pisoni Clone” or River Ranch selection.

About The Vintage...

A wet Spring started off the vines with ample moisture resulting in nice growth.  A long mild summer ended with cooler conditions down the important stretch run, with some nicely timed heat spikes before.  The vintage yielded slightly below average quantity with excellent mouth filling tannins and generous richness of fruit.  An exceptional vintage.

About The Wine…

We separated the entire 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.  76 cases produced. 

Tasting Notes...

Our single vineyard designation from Carneros showcases the power and deep complexity of Toyon Farm terroir.  This vintage is quite approachable in its youth with a rich and textural mouthfeel.  The bouquet is filled with notes of dark berries and earthy notes.  Mouth-coating tannins and flavors of coffee, black cherry, and blackberry dominate the brooding palate.  It finishes round with chewy chocolaty tannins that accentuate a luxuriously long finish that offers promise for greater things to come.  It drinks deliciously now, and if you can resist a little - years in the cellar will reveal ever-softening velvety layers to explore and enjoy.

About The Vineyard…

The Red Dog Vineyard sits atop Sonoma Mountain on the cool, western side. In 2000 Tom and Debbie Engel planted this vineyard for us using cuttings from the Mink Vineyard. The vineyard is situated on the eastern face of a ridge, and the top is 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...

A wet Spring started off the vines with ample moisture resulting in nice growth.  A long mild summer ended with cooler conditions down the important stretch run, with some nicely timed heat spikes before.  The vintage yielded slightly below average quantity with excellent mouth filling tannins and generous richness of fruit.  The young vines at the Red Dog Vineyard were pruned back in 2018 to ensure vine growth and development for the 2019 season.  This paid off in spades, the vines were well balanced and appreciated the generous early Spring moisture.

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, and a slight majority of those barrels were new. The wine was racked once prior to bottling. Until bottling, all wine movements were made by with a gentle push of inert gas. 60 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

Exotically elegant, the subtle nuances of this wine are followed by a lingering finish. The nose opens to an alluring perfume of raspberry, rose hips, and mandarin followed by rich aromas of tobacco, cedar, and forest floor. Spiced throughout with cinnamon, lavender, and sage, the fruit expands in the glass and fills the palate with kirsch, cherry preserve, dried cranberries, and hints of tea, clove, and tangerine. The youthful vigor of the vines has resulted in deeper color and more overt tannins than we previously saw from Red Dog.  We can't wait to watch this new rendition continue to develop.

About The Vineyard…

Our Carneros Pinot Noir comes entirely from the Toyon Vineyard, located in the Napa side of Carneros. This vineyard was originally planted for us in 1998 with cuttings tracing back to the Swan estate in Sonoma County and Dijon 115 - followed by cuttings from Ed Penhoet’s vineyard in Carmel Valley.  Ed’s selection from River Selection is a story into itself (ask us sometime!), and is sometimes referred as “Pisoni Clone” since Gary Pisoni took cuttings from the vineyard in the early ‘80s. 

About The Vintage...

A generous vintage with ample rainfall promoted luxuriant vine growth.  A near perfect summer season allowed the grapes to coast to full ripeness.

About The Wine…

We separated the entire lot into one 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 using inert gas through racking and bottling.
948 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

The 2018 vintage emphasizes the spicy end of the flavor spectrum at release.  Expected juicy cherry notes grace the palate and combine seamlessly with anise and hibiscus, ending on a savory note.  The palate is round and full of textural, mouth-coating tannins balanced by a bright acidity.   Soft tannins, fresh berries and subtle earth notes carry through on the palate.  Juicy and hedonistic at release with the balance and richness to age gracefully.

About The Vineyard...

Starting in 1999, we began an experiment with the Sangiacomo family and Pinot Gris. Based on that initial success, we embarked on a larger scale project, and the Sangiacomo’s planted 2 acres of Pinot Gris exclusively for Ancien, using clones that we imported from Alsace. The rich, clay soils and eastern aspect of the site, coupled with the farming expertise of the Sangiacomo’s, produces ideal fruit for the richer flavored, fuller bodied, well structured Alsatian style that we are striving to produce. The vineyard has matured nicely, yielding consistently ripe fruit with bracing acidity. We are the sole winery that is sourcing Pinot Gris from this special plot, our “vineyard-within-the-vineyard.”

About The Vintage...

2018 was a balanced and fruitful vintage with ample winter rains and moderate temperatures throughout the growing season.  The wines have evolved slowly being framed by nice acidity and generally soft and fruit forward.

About The Wine...

We pressed aggressively for maximum extraction of the exotic spices and to gain additional structure. We then separated press fractions in order to insure the proper development of structure and lushness while in barrel. We fermented the must entirely in neutral French oak barrels at a cool 50 °F, capturing and retaining rich fruit flavors while also developing a lush, expansive palate. In addition, we stirred lees to enhance texture and develop additional layers.  434 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

Delightful aromatics are enhanced by a refreshingly mineral mouthfeel and lingering finish.  A mélange of Asian pear and summer nectarine greet the nose, followed by subtler notes of fragrant white flowers, fresh Granny Smith apples, and tangerine zest.  On the palate, citrus-kissed stone fruit complements star fruit and green apple leading to a lingering finish of peach and grapefruit.  Pair this with grilled meats, seafood, pastas with olive oil or cream sauces, Asian cuisine...the combination of its rich mid-palate, smooth tannins, and acidic structure make this wine unusually versatile at the table.

A Historic Vineyard…

In 1966, Pat and Duncan Haynes planted their vineyard to Martini Pinot Noir and Wente Chardonnay.  In the 47 years that have passed since then, there have been many significant changes in the science and technology of viticulture.  However, not every supposed advance results in an improvement quality.  These old school, widely spaced, cane pruned vines have found a most perfect balance point as tended by Fernando Delgado since 1970.  He prunes each vine individually, according to its strength and potential, choosing which canes to keep and how many canes and shoots that each vine will grow.  There is no technological substitute for this level of knowledge and experience coupled with pure love for the vine and its fruit.

About The Vintage...

We enjoyed consistent weather in 2018, with plenty of rain at the beginning of the year leading into a later start to the growing season, endowing us with an even and plentiful fruit set.  This generally dry and cooler vintage free of heat spikes allowed for the grapes to enjoy extensive hang time on the vine, gradually developing excellent flavor and acidity without a single hint of overripeness.  Not only was the vintage superb in quality, it gave us an abundance of plump grapes.  Juicy and complex, the wines of this vintage are delicious to enjoy in their youth while their acidity and structure promise greatness for long-term cellaring.

About The Wine...

Inspired by the classic and most revered Chardonnay vineyard in the world, Le Montrachet, we utilize the same classic techniques.  It is fermented in tight-grained French Oak cask after a gentle squeeze as whole clusters.  The wine is not moved through the fermentation and aging period, only pushed by inert gas in gentle fashion into the bottling tank.  In vintages where the wine achieves good clarity through natural settling, the wine is not filtered – otherwise it undergoes a light polish to help reveal is core of fruit.  88 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

Notes of lemon meringue, ripe apple and melon greet first in our beautifully complex Chardonnay.  The palate is vibrant and fresh, and the richly textured mouth-feel is expansive, finishing long to showcase the power of these old vines.  Baked apple tart and stone fruit emerge as this opulent wine reaches the depths of your palate, further notes brioche.  The finish is a focused amalgamation of minerality and ripe fruit.  Give this cellar worthy Chardonnay time to open up and it will reveal increasingly lush and creamy layers as it evolves over minutes in the glass and the years in the bottle.

About The Vineyard…

The Mink Vineyard is located next door to the winery, 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, called tufa. The tufa drains the topsoil, storing moisture in its porous structure. The vines are able, with some work, to grow roots into the tufa layer, accessing moisture during the long, dry growing season.

About The Vintage…

We enjoyed consistent weather in 2018, with plenty of rain at the beginning of the year leading into a later start to the growing season, endowing us with an even and plentiful fruit set.  This generally dry and cooler vintage free of heat spikes allowed for the grapes to enjoy extensive hang time on the vine, gradually developing excellent flavor and acidity without a single hint of overripeness.  Not only was the vintage superb in quality, it gave us an abundance of plump grapes.  Juicy and complex, the wines of this vintage are delicious to enjoy in their youth while their acidity and structure promise greatness for long-term cellaring.

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.  300 cases produced.

Tasting Notes…

A bright and juicy vintage from this small backyard vineyard in Coombsville, this vintage of Mink Vineyard Pinot Noir abounds in fruit notes we love from this vineyard.  Darker fruits blend with notes of cocoa to balance the bright juiciness of blueberry and plum.  Fine, chalky tannins and minerality balance the hedonism of the Mink fruit and beckon you in for another mouthwatering sip. Age in the bottle will reveal the underlying depth of this wine as it evolves and broadens on the palate.

A HISTORIC VINEYARD...

The Old Block of the Haynes Vineyard, located in a cool pocket of the southeastern Napa Valley, is a part of California winemaking history.  Among the vines in the Old Block of Haynes Vineyard Chardonnay, Ken found through examining and tasting the grapes that a handful of these vines showed “musque" characteristics.  A selection of these specific vines led to our Musque Chardonnay. 

ABOUT THE VINTAGE...

We enjoyed consistent weather in 2018, with plenty of rain at the beginning of the year leading into a later start to the growing season, endowing us with an even and plentiful fruit set.  This generally dry and cooler vintage free of heat spikes allowed for the grapes to enjoy extensive hang time on the vine, gradually developing excellent flavor and acidity without a single hint of overripeness.  Not only was the vintage superb in quality, it gave us an abundance of plump grapes.  Juicy and complex, the wines of this vintage are delicious to enjoy in their youth while their acidity and structure promise greatness for long-term cellaring.

ABOUT THE WINE...

Our Musque Chardonnay bottling is the culmination of a multi-year selection process at the Haynes Vineyard in Coombsville.  Grapes were tasted and selected on a vine-by-vine basis evaluating for the rare “musque” character.  The cuttings were then taken and planted to two rows in another section of the vineyard, which yield just a couple barrels each vintage.  The vines are all varietal Chardonnay, but possess the unique clonal traits lending the floral “terpene” aromatics reminiscent of varieties like Muscat, Viognier or Gewurtztraminer - though certainly in more subtle fashion.  This wine was made much in the same way as our other Chardonnays, fermented entirely in French cooperage.  Bottling was done after a total of 9 months in barrel.  74 cases produced.

TASTING NOTES...

The magic of Musque is first revealed in its sweetly efflorescent nose.  Juicy notes of guava, tangerine and red delicious apple are perfumed with freesia.  The generous and opulent palate, together with the vibrancy of the aforementioned fruit and floral notes, make this a uniquely enjoyable Chardonnay.  There is a tangy earthiness to this vintage, which reveals it to have an herbal dimension and notes of alfalfa.  Over the first year or two after release we see the tropical fruits become more amplified and even juicier on the palate, fully integrating with heady floral notes.

A Historic Vineyard…

In 1966, Pat and Duncan Haynes planted their vineyard to Martini Pinot Noir and Wente Chardonnay.  In the 52 years that have passed since then, there have been many significant changes in the science and technology of viticulture.  However, not every supposed advance results in an improvement quality.  These old school, widely spaced, cane pruned vines have found a most perfect balance point as tended by Fernando Delgado since 1970.  He prunes each vine individually, according to its strength and potential, choosing which canes to keep and how many canes and shoots that each vine will grow.  There is no technological substitute for this level of knowledge and experience coupled with pure love for the vine and its fruit.

About The Vintage...

We enjoyed a near perfect growing season in 2018.  Ample Spring rains lead to luxuriant growth in the vines and a generous crop.  The summer was cool and steady throughout, allowing the vines excellent hang time and not forcing our hand with late heat spells.

About The Wine...

Before the harvest, Ken and Fernando walk these rows together and mark the most flavorful old vines from the original planting.  Only the original and healthiest vines are allowed to be included in this limited pick to produce this very special wine.   After the careful vine-by-vine selection in the field, classic Ancien small lot winemaking is performed using one gravity-filled fermenter, punched down by hand. 61 cases produced

Tasting Notes...

Floral perfume notes and exotic spice are at the forefront of this elegant old vine wine.  A lovely bouquet of roses and delicate earth intermix with notes of cocoa, berries, sandalwood, and toasted grains to invite your first sip.  The fruit concentrates on the mid-palate, revealing subtle notes of earl grey tea.  The elegant and luxurious character of this wine shines bright with acidity layered into a silky texture. It finishes with a light, understated grip, and expands to embrace every corner of the palate.  Drink now or enjoy increased depth for years to come.

About The Vineyard…

Jouissance comes from the southwestern corner of the appellation, only nominally protected by the coastal hills and open to the maritime influence of the Pacific Ocean, is the single source for these grapes.  The soils here are sandy loam and very well drained, typical for the Russian River Valley. The cooler sections of Russian River, near Sebastopol, are known for producing explosive and aromatic fruit flavors balanced with acidity and earthy aromas.  All seventeen rows are planted with Dijon 115 clone, nudging the wine toward perfumed aromas and light spice notes as a compliment to the lush fruitiness derived from the soils.

About The Vintage...

A generous vintage, 2018 was blessed with ample winter rains and beautiful conditions during bloom.  Moderate temperatures throughout the summer allowed for healthy vine growth and excellent crop balance.  The grapes ripened slowly, without exceptional heat periods down the stretch.

About the Wine...

We fermented in our one ton, open-top tanks, layering the bottom 25% of each tank with whole clusters of fruit, adding structure and spice notes to the back palate and balancing the otherwise plush fruit of Gilbert’s Vineyard.  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, half 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.   241 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

Notes of strawberry and tart pie cherry are accompanied by notes of sweet vanillin, toasted hazelnut and coffee as an introduction to this joyfully juicy blend of rich fruit and earthy spice. The wine opens to a well integrated mid-palate of dark berries, toffee and cassis.  The broad palate is elevated and brightened with a mouthwatering acidity that welcomes this wine to the table.  Sassafras, herbal notes and baking spices are revealed in the satisfying finish.

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.  Good sedimentary soils, sitting on two well-drained hillsides, along with careful, sustainable farming practices, routinely 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...

A warm, dry summer with well timed rainfall punctuated the season,  invigorating the vines to finish their work producing fully ripe and flavorful grapes.  The wines are very well balanced and will age beautifully.

About The Wine...

Ken Bernards returns to the land of his youth, Oregon’s Willamette Valley.  Working with fruit grown this far from the winery produces special challenges and requires an extremely high element of trust between the wine maker and the grower.  Dick Shea’s farming skills are up to this challenge.  This was the last fruit that we harvested.  It fermented traditionally in one ton, open top containers using hand punch downs to achieve optimal extraction.  Gravity provided movement from reception through pressing with inert gas used from then on.  It was aged in François Frères and Remond cooperage for sixteen months and racked once in the springtime.  221 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

Dried flowers and potpourri first greet the olfactory, followed by the characteristic bouquet of geranium with whiffs of cinnamon and baking spices that seamlessly make their way into each sip.   The wine begins somewhat linear, slowly expanding into a juicy and generous palate with time in the glass.  Perfumes of oolong and chamomile tea linger in the senses and create an exotically floral foreshadow of the richer earthier notes to be revealed as fruit makes way for the deeper characteristics to shine over years in the cellar.

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 vineyard is managed and owned in partnership by Kathy Joseph, who has planted an array of clones and rootstocks on several, varied soils to create a staggering level of diversity from this single vineyard.  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.  This vintage marks our eighth working with Kathy and this remarkable vineyard. 

About The Vintage...

Ample rain brought an end to our five-year drought and the 2017 vintage produced the high quality of fruit that we had enjoyed in the prior seasons.  It was an unusually wet year with a mild spring that allowed the vigorous vines to flower extensively.  Record-breaking heat in the days leading to harvest fully ripened the grapes, developing sugar and flavor, while cool nights ensured wines would retain mouthwatering acidity.  Our harvest wrapped up, with wine aging in barrel and safe from smoke damage, long before the October fires visited Napa.  Ultimately, we were gifted a smaller vintage than the originally anticipated and we were very happy with the high quality of the grapes.  Deliciously juicy, our wines excited our palates months before bottling!

About The Wine...

The grapes were 100% destemmed into an open top fermenter and cold soaked for 5 days.  We utilized a combination of hand punch-downs and a submerged cap device in order to optimally control extraction from the skins.   We fermented with a combination of RC212 and Assmannshausen yeasts, with a peak temperature of 94°F.  The wine was aged for 17 months in an array of Francois Frères and Remond cooperage, entirely of Bertrange Oak and a majority new.  We held the wine in bottle for nearly a year before release.  181 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

A bold Pinot Noir with notes of fruit and exotic spice, this wine is enjoyable to drink now with plenty of life to give for years down the line.  The nose greets with notes of watermelon, wet slate, and cassis.  Fresh dark fruits lead the palate, and the focus settles on ripe flavors of blackberry and currants spiced with peppercorn.  Velvety and softly chewy tannins emphasize structure, while ever-present acidity balances and brightens.  The spicy aromatics and flavors continue through the long finish.