Small Sonoma County Vineyards, Lasting Impression
The Barbers lease and farm smaller vineyards around Petaluma. They grow all their fruit organically. They are believers in the single vineyard model of winemaking: that each wine should come from individual vineyard sites and express the uniqueness of that particular vineyard and soil. The name of each vineyard is printed on the label.
Brutal Hill
Sonoma Mountain – Zinfandel & Cabernet
Planted in 1975, the Brutal Hill vineyard is east of Petaluma on Sonoma Mountain at an elevation just under 2000 ft. The entrance to the vineyard is where 4 acres of cabernet is planted. Further into the property, up a steep gravel mountain road and planted on a rugged mountain slope, is 3 acres of a zinfandel field blend. This vineyard is mostly zinfandel, with alicante bouschet, petite sirah, (and a lot of vines we just don’t know what they are) planted interspersed in the zinfandel and all harvested at the same time. Dry farmed and organic, the vineyard is not easy to farm but benefits from its cool surroundings and volcanic/clay loam soils, yielding grapes of balance and finesse.
Denman Ranch
Petaluma Gap – Pinot Noir & Chardonnay
2 acres planted to both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay – Denman Ranch is a noticeable historic landmark right on the border between Petaluma and Penngrove. The vines here benefit from well drained, sandy loam soils and the cooling fog that blankets most of Petaluma in the mornings and evenings.
Santo Giordano
Carneros – Sangiovese
Just outside of Petaluma and in the southern most part of the Carneros appellation, this vineyard has fantastic views across the bay of San Francisco and Berkeley on a clear day. Planted in 1999 on clay and thin rocky loam, the persistent breeze from the bay cools the Italian varietals on the property and delays ripening. The sangiovese from the property offers a truly elegant, old-world expression of the grape.
Sassin Vineyard
Russian River Valley – Sauvignon Blanc
Planted near Forestville by Jon Sassin (who helped in the planting of one of the original sauvignon blanc vineyards we were working with in Alexander Valley), this vineyard is just one acre of organically farmed grapes pruned to a modern ‘John Henry’ system of vineyard cultivation. Every winter the vines are pruned to 4 shoots, 2 growing up and 2 growing down, to promote better quality from vigorous vines and allow more sun penetration. It’s a stark looking vineyard – where leaf growth is controlled only up and down, and the rows look almost like the walls of a hedge maze.