Vineyard: Spring Hill Ranch sits on a windblown ridge, seven miles from the ocean in the Petaluma Gap, a conduit for cold breezes and fog from the Pacific. Sharing the ranch with a herd of Wagyu and Scottish Highland cattle, the Pinot Noir here is sustainably farmed with natural cover crops of Lupine, crimson clover, California poppy and rye, and a parliament of owls that keep the vineyard clear of pesky rodents. The berries are quite small and yield is often less than one ton per acre, producing concentrated flavors with plenty of depth.

Vintage: The drought continued delivering a fourth straight dry winter and early spring. Some unsettled weather during flowering in the spring led to shatter and lower yields, but the peak summer months brought only a few extreme heat days. Ideal conditions ensued in the late summer, and delayed harvest of this Pinot until September 5th, just long enough to develop flavor and acid profiles perfectly suited to this style of wine.

Winemaking: Harvested by hand and crushed into an open top tank, the grapes were fermented spontaneously with wild yeasts. Treated gently and sparingly, the cap was punched down manually at most once per day. After pressing, the wine went into French oak barrels, one new and two neutral, and was left completely alone for 18 months until being racked for bottling.