Vineyard
Ranging from an altitude of 405′ up to 800′, the vineyard can be divided into 3 distinct zones.
Tuition
The Tuition Blocks (1-5), as you can guess from their name, were the first plantings. They are the southern most blocks, at highest elevation, divided across Jory and Nekia soils. Pinot Noir clones 777, Wadenswil, 828, and 115 along with Pinot Blanc 7 are grafted onto RG and 101-14 rootstocks. The heart of our famed “Jaguar” lives in these blocks, and the bottom swale produces our sparkling cuvées.
Heresy and Bones
The Heresy Blocks (6-7), and the Boneyard (Block 8) are our central blocks, slightly lower in elevation, and planted in predominantly Saum and Nekia soils. These 667, 115, 828 and Pommard clones were a bold experiment to counter global warming; planted on a steep, 30 degree north facing slope, whose aspect is contrary to conventional wisdom, we proved that the wrong side of the hill may be the best side of the hill. Source of our highly acclaimed “The Heretic”, we have sparked massive development as other wineries join us facing north.
Zone 3
The Steppes (9-19) began planting in 2014. They are home to our heritage Pinot Noir clones like Jackson and Mt. Eden, Pinot Blanc, and the uber-rare Pinot Gouges, of which, there are about 12 acres in the world. These northern most blocks sit at our lowest elevations, and include Jory, Nekia, Ritner, Goodin, Gelderman, and Dupee soils. The last planted, upper steppe now holds our Nebbiolo, Chenin Blanc and extended Malbec plantings.