Vineyards
San Saba Vineyard
Our Estate San Saba Vineyard is sheltered in a nook just below the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA, roughly 25 miles southeast of the town of Monterey. Our climate is heavily influenced by the morning fog and afternoon winds from the nearby Pacific Ocean. This is a cool site with little rainfall and one of the longest growing seasons in the world. Our unusual climate allows us produce ripe, concentrated wines of exceptional balance.
Our site’s soils are primarily composed of Arroyo Gravelly Loam and Hanford Gravely Sandy Loam. The Hanford Gravely Sandy Loam comes from the SLH bench just above our vineyard. In addition to its excellent drainage properties, our site is essentially free of disease and pests allowing us to plant and farm a portion of our property with own-rooted vines.
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The estate consists of 72 acres, 67.75 of which are planted to grapes. The varietal mix is Chardonnay (30.44 acres), Pinot Noir (18.11 acres), Sauvignon Blanc (15.44 acres), Syrah (3.60 acres) and Muscat (0.59 acres).We tailor our trellising, row direction, rootstock, clones and farming protocols to take advantage of the subtleties and intricacies of our terroir.
To preserve our local ecosystem, we have worked with viticultural consultant Steve McIntyre to develop and implement a sustainable farming program specifically tailored to our unique conditions. In addition to protecting the local environment, we believe it allows us to produce wines that are more authentic and specific to our terroir.
Doctor’s Vineyard
The Doctor’s Vineyard is one of the most celebrated sites in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA. Located west of the town of Soledad, it is an exquisite parcel perched along the slopes above the Salinas Valley. Of the 243 acres of grapes, 193 acres are planted to Pinot Noir (11 clones), 45.5 acres are planted to Syrah (five clones) with the remainder planted to Malbec. The wines from the Doctor’s Vineyard are uniformly dark, dense, supple, opulent, structured and distinctive.
