Even in a bad year in Alexander Valley, it's great. "The fruit is like Alexander Valley on steroids. "A hundred and fifty days on Pine Mountain is like having 175 or 180 days on the valley floor because the vine doesn't shut down," said Lise Asimont, director of grower relations from Francis Ford Coppola Winery. But its low temperatures, at night and in the morning, are higher. Most of the appellation is above the fog line, so in summer its high temperatures in mid-afternoon are lower than in the valley. The appellation starts at 1600 feet (488 meters), rising as high as 3000 feet to what Benziger says are the highest-elevation vineyards in California.
The only way we can afford this is if they are very premium grapes."īut there are advantages too. In a year when the temperature isn't high enough, half the vineyard might not ripen. After everything blooms in the valley, we are two-to-three weeks behind. "This is extreme farming," says Hien Nguyen, a mathematics professor-turned software developer from Montana who planted Ampère vineyard. The mountains were mostly neglected for viticulture until recently because, while real estate is cheaper than on the Alexander Valley floor, it's not a place that can be planted or farmed cheaply. Imagery Estate winemaker Joe Benziger calls a property there they don't even own "our flagship vineyard." Coppola is making a $65 Cabernet from Pine Mountain that it thinks of as its next Rubicon. Jackson Family Wines has planted 130 acres right on top of Cloverdale Peak. Some smart wineries are placing big bets there. Related stories:Ĭalifornia Wine Threatened by Drought Crisis Most grapes on the mountains are red, so the first bottles with Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak on the label have just recently been released. Not until 2011 were the two mountains that rise from Alexander Valley at the Sonoma-Mendocino County border approved as an AVA. With nearly 1000 wineries in Napa and Sonoma County competing for grapes, you wouldn't think there would be a lot of great unknown vineyard land left.Īnd yet, you probably haven't heard of Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak. There's a good reason. | The vineyards of Pine Mountain-Cloverdale Peak lie above the fog level
0 kommentar(er)
