Single Vineyard

  • A Legacy Continues!

    September 24, 2024 09:43

    Part of the excitement of being a small family winery is I get to work with winemaker Montse Reece to develop new wines to add to our portfolio. She knows the vineyards well, this is her 18th harvest at Pedroncelli! These are small lot of single vineyard estate wines (blocks really) that are deemed exceptional in quality. In the coming months, we are introducing four new wines.

    2022 Legacy Block Home Ranch Vineyard Zinfandel

    The inaugural release of our Legacy Block Zinfandel is a celebration of the grape here at Pedroncelli. Our house is founded on this versatile grape and we now have four prime examples of what we and Dry Creek Valley can produce—stellar Zins!

    Zinfandel has been planted on the property since 1904. The founders Giovanni & Giulia Pedroncelli purchased a shuttered winery, a home, and 25 acres of mostly Zinfandel in 1927. A second generation was planted on the property in the early 1980s. The Legacy Block was the third generation and was planted in 2016.

    When Vineyard Manager Lance Blakeley was choosing the clone to plant on the 3 acres of hillside, he chose the Rockpile Clone which was developed to the north of us and proven to produce high quality fruit on steep hillsides. It also sets a smaller more manageable crop so the fruit ripens evenly. This is important because Zinfandel is a famous uneven ripener.

    Once the vineyard began to produce fruit it caught winemaker Montse Reece’s eye. She noticed that it showed a different side of the Zinfandel grape-one she had not detected in our other Zinfandels. She described the aromas as distinctive with wild berries, licorice, pomegranate and baking spices.

    The yeast she chose to ferment this Zinfandel was also derived from the Rockpile area and she feels complements the grapes while they ferment, bringing out the best in the fruit and adding complexity to the wine. The Legacy Zin is a very aromatic lighter-style zin. Montse uses American oak from Missouri with a lighter toast showcasing the fruit better without overpowering the wine.

    The legacy indeed continues as we sourced the fruit from the our latest replanting of Zinfandel.

    Tags: Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, Zinfandel, Single Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon
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  • Everything Old is New Again

    September 24, 2024 09:39

    Part of the excitement of being a small family winery is I get to work with winemaker Montse Reece to develop new wines to add to our portfolio. She knows the vineyards well, this is her 18th harvest at Pedroncelli! These are small lot of single vineyard estate wines (blocks really) that are deemed exceptional in quality. In the coming months, we are introducing four new wines.

    Block 11 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc

    We have been making Sauvignon Blanc for nearly 30 years, beginning in the mid-1990s. John Pedroncelli established this grape on our East Side Vineyard and Dry Creek Valley, especially in our area, is the perfect climate with the best soils for producing exceptional fruit. It is the only white wine grape we grow on the estate.The two blocks, numbers 6 and 11, each picked at a different time bring out the two sides of the grape from the grassy to the tropical fruit.

    Even as far back as the 90s we made two styles of Sauvignon Blanc: one in oak (Fume Blanc) and one with very little oak (Sauvignon Blanc). At the turn of the century, we adjusted the portfolio and landed on just one, the unoaked style, and added a screw cap. In 2023 as we looked at the quality of estate fruit, we asked Montse what she would like to create, and which vineyard block she would work with to make a reserve style. She happily pointed out Block 11 as the vineyard that produces the reserve quality she looked for and chose to barrel ferment the wine.

    It is fun to reflect that we have come full circle with two Sauvignon Blancs from one end of the spectrum to the other. Each one showcases the versatility of the grape. Which makes the release of our Reserve Block 11 Sauvignon Blanc so exciting.

     

    Tags: Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Sauvignon Blanc, Reserve, Single Vineyard, Estate Vineyard
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