Tasting Notes

Raspberry, rhubarb and sweet cherries fill the nose. The palate is loaded with the bright red fruits and there is an acidity that rivals the tannins making it a perfect food wine. Enjoy!

Winemaking Notes

The Van Der Kamp property is one of the oldest homesteads on top of Sonoma mountain. It has been farmed continually by one family for over 100 years. The 60 acre ranch sits at an elevation of 1200 to 1500 feet allowing the grapevines to thrive just above the frost line. However, two fog banks (one from the Petaluma Gap and one from the bay) move up on opposite sides of the ranch and collide resulting in an opening of sunlight and warmth. As a result of this battle and because it is a north facing bench, the conditions are near perfect for growing the precious Pinot Noir. Only 25 of the 60 acres are planted to vines while the rest of the property is dedicated to gardens, hens, orchards, ponds, and cultural gatherings.

Although the ranch is a true working farm and an absolute labor of love for this incredible family, their one son, Ulysses is the man behind the vineyards. This quote from one of the many winemakers sourcing fruit sums it up. “Ulysses Van Der Kamp farms this land like no other viticulturist. He prunes, pulls leaves and manages each vine with a devotion seldom seen in any vocation of any kind. His hands touch each vine many times over the course of the growing season. His partnership with the land inspires winemakers to give their very best effort to the grapes grown on Sonoma Mountain. He is an indelible part of what the French call terroir as you cannot separate the man from the mountain”.

We kicked off the 2014 vintage in the middle of the night on September 15. The growing season was pretty perfect up on the mountain. The yields were much higher than 2013 with the quality some of the best we have seen. This year we switched up the clonal selection a bit and we are quite happy. 828 and La Tache are now the two choices for this special wine. After sorting and de-stemming we put the whole berries into open topped bins for a 5 day cold soak. Once we moved the bins outside and the yeasts warmed up, they began eating all those sugars. Always a blessing since we prefer our fermentations to occur from the yeasts naturally present on the vines, not from a package. 2 to 3 times a day we did our manual hand punch downs until the wine reached dryness. After alcoholic fermentation was complete, we drained the free run into 45% new oak barrels and pressed off the cap. The secondary fermentation (malo-lactic) began without a problem and finished quite fast this year. The wine was left unfined and bottled 11 months after harvest.