PRODUCT DETAILS

20 years. We planted our estate Sangiovese in 2000. With this vintage we were working with the fruit of vines entering their 3rd decade.

So, what have I learned over the twenty years of growing Sangiovese? First, there is no such thing as a "typical" growing season; I stopped waiting for one about five years ago. Second, I believe that I made the right call planting five different clones of Sangiovese. This was/is not typical in California. Here everyone wants to grow the "Brunello" clone, and thus most Sangiovese vineyards in California are monoclonal. In fact, in Tuscany, most Sangiovese vineyards have a wide variety of clones. It wasn't planned that way, it just worked out that way, and for the best in my opinion.

2020 started out pretty normal, good rains in March, no early heat spikes. Things got, shall we say..interesting, in August. Mid-August saw a run of 100deg+ days, not central valley blast furnace hot, but pretty warm for up here. Those were followed by a week of dense overhanging smoke from the Lightning Complex Fire in the Santa Cruz mountains. With hindsight, we didn't suffer any "smoke taint" with the wine, but the week of extreme sun filtration significantly lowered daytime temperatures, slowed ripening, resulting in a harvest about two weeks later than expected. Like I said, no such thing as a typical growing season anymore.

This wine starts out the way all of my really great Sangioveses have started out, very earthy on the nose. This is a good sign. After about 5 minutes in the glass this gives way to distinct dark cherry aromatics. The mid-palate is moderately full, exhibiting just a hint of mint before finishing with brambles and a loooong lingering tannic dryness. Only 139 cases produced.

Silver Medal ~ 2024 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition