experience
Great wines from the best vineyards in Sonoma County.
Sourcing our grapes from the best vineyards is the cornerstone of our wines. Our original ranch in Bennett Valley is, without question, one of the top new world sites for cool climate Syrah. In 2015 we acquired the iconic Platt Ranch in Bodega. We believe that Platt is the greatest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyard in California.
Eric Flanagan, through a targeted vineyard investment fund he started, acquired the Platt Vineyard and also purchased the Gap’s View vineyard in the Petaluma Gap area of the Sonoma Coast AVA. Our vineyard designated wines currently include Platt Vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay, Bacigalupi Vineyard Chardonnay, and Gap’s View Vineyard Pinot Noir.
We make great wines from the best vineyards In Sonoma County
Gap’s View is a climatically perfect site located just southeast of Petaluma. Cool afternoon winds from the Petaluma Gap keep the fruit clean and allow it to ripen slowly. The 41 acres of Pinot Noir produce a structured, layered Pinot Noir and this site is the core of our Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. We also produce a small amount of a vineyard designated wine from this exceptional site.
Just a few miles south of our winery on West Dry Creek Road the Bacigalupi family owns approximately 120 acres of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Vineyards on Westside Road. We source the fruit for our Flanagan Chardonnay Bacigalupi Vineyard from one of their top blocks. Bacigalupi was the source of the Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that, famously, beat the French wines at the “Judgement of Paris” tasting in 1976.
The Ritchie Vineyard is one of the most famous Chardonnay sites in Sonoma County. The vineyard was planted in the early 1970’s to a Wente clone of Chardonnay on AXR-1 rootstock. It was later discovered that AXR-1 was not phylloxera resistant and owner Kent Ritchie was told he would need to replant the vineyard. Forty years later the vineyard still produces world class fruit!
We continue to source our Syrah from our original vineyard in Bennett Valley, which, sits at 1200 feet elevation on the southwest facing slopes of Bennett Mountain in Sonoma County. The soils are rocky, volcanic cobbles with excellent drainage. The vines were planted in 2002 on 6 x 4 spacing. The vineyards sit at the confluence of two maritime influences: San Pablo Bay to the south and the Petaluma Gap to the west. Being a warm micro-climate in a cool region means bud break is early, but harvest is late. The extra hang time for the grapes, along with the low yields and the hillside site, delivers intense, complex fruit with beautiful flavors.
The Platt Vineyard is a stunning coastal ranch with 300 acres of hillside covered in redwoods and firs. Along the ridgeline, high above the morning fog, lie 37 acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyard. All of the vines are planted in the highly prized Goldridge fine sandy loams. From the top of the property, you can see the tiny town of Bodega and the Pacific Ocean. This is a truly spectacular vineyard that ripens small crops of intense fruit at very low sugar levels. We believe that the Platt Vineyard produces the best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grown in California.
The River Road Grape Farm is situated in the heart of the Russian River Valley. It lies on a gentle slope on the South side of River Road and is surrounded by some very well know vineyards. The loam soils and abundant water make it a consistently productive site for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, and Semillon. The site has cool foggy mornings, is warm midday, and then cools off again in the evening. The perfect climate allows for slow, even ripening. We have been sourcing from this vineyard for several years and plan to start featuring vineyard designated wines from the site.