Camino Alto Vineyard, El Dorado County 

This vineyard is at 2,900 feet elevation in the Apple Hill district east of Placerville. It was planted in 1988 and was a pear orchard for many years before becoming a vineyard. It is farmed by Ron Mansfield, a kind, meticulous and well respected fruit farmer in the Sierra Foothills. The soils are an unusual rich red color. The red comes from the prevalent deep volcanic clays at the site, which seem to suit the cab franc vines beautifully. The vines only need two waterings per year as they have rooted themselves securely and deeply and are able to provide for themselves in the arid summers of the foothills. The nearby American River Canyon provides a conduit for cool Sierra mountain air, channeled down from the mountains each night. We have contracted the bottom rows in a little valley of this vineyard where the cool air settles and the grapes are slower to ripen. 

O'Brien Vineyard, El Dorado County

The vines sit on a steep north facing slope between the northern and southern forks of the Cosumnes River at 2,300 feet elevation. The vineyard was planted by Bill Naylor in the 1980s and is still farmed by him today. Bill has a keen eye for grape farming and many years of experience in the foothills. David worked with some of Bill's Rhone varieties while working in the cellar at Terre Rouge in 2013, and this site is just a few miles north of where Britt farmed the vineyards for Terre Rouge in 2014. During the day warm air flows east up a network of canyons from the Sacramento delta. During the night cold air flows west down from the high Sierras. The vines are a mature 30 years old and are among the rare own-rooted vines in California. The predominant musick soils have great water retention and only require irrigation once a year, even during California’s historic drought. There is also a minor component of volcanic soils in the mix. 

Salinas Valley Vineyard, Monterey County​

​The vineyard is located a couple hundred yards west of the Salinas River toward the southern end of the Salinas Valley at an elevation of 300 feet. It is, however, still within reach of the cool ocean air from Monterey Bay. The bay hides a deep underwater canyon that extends to depths of 2 miles. All this cold water creates fog and cold evening air that flows inland to the nearby valleys. The top two feet of soil where our Chenin grows is almost pure sand. Think sand dunes. This austere growing environment forces the vines to struggle, and typically struggling vines work harder, reach deeper, and develop more interesting site specific characteristics which are perceptible in the grapes and their wine. The vines are 20 years old now and seem to have found their balance. The salinity and minerality in these grapes beautifully expresses this Monterey dune vineyard. 

Barsotti Vineyard, El Dorado County

The vineyard soils are made up of porphyry and granitic rock, rare for California, but strikingly similar to those of the hills in northern Beaujolais-a famed home of gamay noir. Gamay finds some of its most exceptional expressions in the cool Loire Valley. And between the proximity of the American River Canyon to the north and the 2,600 foot elevation of the vineyard, there is just the right amount of cooling needed for this fruit to ripen beautifully. The vineyard is impeccably farmed by the Mansfield family, instrumental in the resurgence of this compelling grape variety.