A cool microclimate in the Oregon House Valley: forty five hundred vines planted on a gentle, well-drained, north-east facing slope. Red loam and clay topsoil on decomposed granite and volcanic ash subsoil, sprinkled with fragments of granite rocks, basalt, and quartz. The virgin soil is pure, uncontaminated, alive with microorganisms and earthworms.

The Sierra Nevada Foothills are not the first to spring to mind when thinking about Pinot Noir in California, and yet this site provides an ideal microclimate and soil combination for its demanding nature. The soil – poor in organic matter and rich in minerals – has a unique combination of volcanic, clay, and alluvial elements, providing a rare equilibrium of water retention and good drainage. Our growing season is neither too dry nor too wet, neither too hot nor too cold. Bud break in late-March to mid-April, bloom in late-May to mid-June, harvest in early-September to mid-October.