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 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…

The 2020 growing season saw California’s drought ramp up in intensity.  A very long dry season with moderate temperatures most of the way kept the vines from undo stress.  It will also be known for the tragic wild fires that engulfed much of California and Oregon in multiple phases.  As the fire activity was centered to the north, the Fiddlestix Vineyard was unaffected.  The crop was moderate, and the concentration exceptional in 2020.

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.  262 cases produced.

Tasting Notes…

The 2020 Mink Pinot Noir exhibits its typical bright and refreshing notes of pomegranate, cherry, and fresh herbs.  It gradually opens to deeper and darker berry fruit, blueberry and plum.  In the months after release, the wine will continue to pick up depth and density, as is normally the case.  Its enchanting mouthwatering minerality invite sip after sip together with bite after bite.  A lively wine at release but it will continue to improve over the next

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 2020 growing season saw California’s drought ramp up in intensity.  A very long dry season with moderate temperatures most of the way kept the vines from undo stress.  It will also be known for the tragic wild fires that engulfed much of California and Oregon in multiple phases.  As the fire activity was centered to the north, the Fiddlestix Vineyard was unaffected.  The crop was moderate, and the concentration exceptional in 2020.

About The Wine...

The grapes were 100% destemmed into an open top fermenter and cold soaked for4 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 1 ton fermentations.  The wine was aged for 12 months in an blend of Francois Frères and Remond cooperage - we prefer to source 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.  As mature vines, the wines are a little more refined than in their early vintages.  Dark berry fruit, cardamom, and fresh herbs greet the nose and echo through the palate.   Layers of Indian spice, pepper, and allspice lend the oft recognized signature of this vineyard.  Velvety and softly chewy tannins emphasize structure, and will continue to develop over time.  Enjoy over the next 2 to 10 years.

A structured and complex style of Chardonnay, beautiful texture and length finishing with mouthwatering minerality.

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...

The effusive nose welcomes with layers of lemon meringue, ripe apple, citrus zest, honey and grape blossom.  The palate is vibrant and fresh, and the richly textured mouth-feel is expansive.   Baked apple tart and stone fruit emerge as this opulent wine reaches the depths of your palate, with 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…

A two acre vineyard in 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 lively acidity and earthy aromas.  All seventeen rows are planted with Dijon 115 clone, which tend to add perfumed aromas and light spice notes to the lush fruitiness derived from the soils.

About The Vintage...

The 2019 growing season provided the third year in a row of generous and well timed winter moisture.  The result was very nice growth with well balanced vines free of excess stress.  This is what we are always after, a happy vine dedicated to its fruit results in the most flavorful wine in general.  We saw few heat spikes but adequate warmth in the season to produce fully ripe fruit.  We consider the 2019 vintage to be an exceptional one with all the makings of wines to be enjoyed at release as well as over the long term.  It there was any downside, the crop was on the lower side of yield.

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.   247 cases produced.

Tasting Notes...

A deeper, earthier expression of this vineyard upon release.  Brambly black cherry, allspice, hints of earth mingle with the usual notes strawberry and pie cherry. The palate is broad and giving, showing early complexity which echos the fruit notes and is accompanied by sweet vanillin, toasted hazelnut, tea, herbs and coffee as an introduction to this joyfully juicy blend of rich fruit and earthy spice.  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 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.