Guidici Vineyard: new beginnings, awesome fruit
11/14/2013
Beautiful, early morning shot of the Guidici Vineyard in the Sonoma Coast.
Near the beginning of summer, Roger and I talked about adding a small, “true Sonoma Coast” vineyard to our portfolio. The Sonoma Coast is actually one of the largest viticultural areas in all of California. Its boundaries stretch eastward far from the reaches of cooling ocean breezes, colder days, and foggy mornings. We really wanted a site that was as close to the coast as possible -- a beautiful site that could deliver Pinot Noir with floral notes interplayed with rich spice and black-fruit.
The problem: those sites are hard to find. There isn’t a lot of fruit out there these days and due mostly to economic downturn in 2008 there weren’t a lot of new vineyards being planted. As a result, there was a little less fruit to go around. Normally this would not be a problem if demand was low as it had been, but starting last year and then more so this year, demand has started shooting up again.
As we considered our options, the supply/demand situation painted a bleak picture for would be vineyard-hunters. Making things even more difficult was that we didn’t want just any vineyard; it had to be a truly special place: cold, exposed to true coastal elements, the right clonal make up, and grown responsibly by careful folks.
Back in June, I called my friend Cory, thinking he might have just the place. Cory and I had worked together at Kosta Browne in 2009. After bobbing around down in Australia, Cory came back and became a vineyard manager for one of the premier Pinot growers in California, Charlie Chenoweth, as well as assistant winemaker to Michael Browne for his new Cirq Pinot Noir label. As a result, Cory has access to truly stunning fruit. All the sites we discussed, while impressive, were fully spoken for. It was more likely that these little coastal vineyards will eventually slip off the continental shelf and into the Pacific before the contract holders give up their prized plots in these great vineyards.
As harvest got underway, and we brought in the terrific Pinot from Sanford & Benedict Vineyard in Santa Rita Hills, then Hein Vineyard, and finally our Day Ranch Pinot from Anderson Valley, it looked like we weren’t going to get any Sonoma Coast Pinot this year -- a real bummer because quality was looking out of this world. And even if we did, it was late enough in the harvest that given some heat spikes and rain, any fruit still hanging was going to be so full of raisins and with sugars more suited for making rocket fuel than delicate Pinots. The year had passed us by.
Then, almost out of the blue, Cory called and said that he might have a ton or two of Pinot from the Guidici Vineyard available. The Guidici Vineyard is a beautiful little site I’d worked with when I was at Kosta Browne. It’s about four miles southwest of the town of Occidental in far western Sonoma County, about eight miles from the coast as the crow flies. This is the real McCoy when it comes to Sonoma Coast wines. Every year this is the last of their vineyards to get to bud break, it’s the last site to bloom. It gets decimated from the winds when the small flowers are getting pollinated. The restful, late ripening grape clusters with lose berries that allow for wind to cut through them, drying the clusters out and preventing mildew, mold and other detrimental things.
Sure enough, the resulting fruit was stunning! The sugars were low because of the cold climate, but because the grapes were on the vine a full three weeks longer than most other Pinot from the same area, the flavors had developed wonderfully.
We brought the fruit in second week of October. Roger was out of town so Richard, Michael and I sorted it and then I did a cold soak, then into fermentation.
Great news – and a great way to finish off what looks to be a terrific vintage!
Cheers!
Drew Huffine
Winemaker
Post By:
Drew Huffine