New Vineyard Sources at Maritana Vineyards for 2018 and 2019
- Martaella Vineyard (2018) Pinot Noir and (2019) Pinot Noir AND Chardonnay
- Moonshine Ranch (2018) Pinot Noir
- Five Wells Vineyard (2019) Pinot Noir
- Susannah’s Vineyard (2018) Chardonnay
- Jenkins Ranch (2018) Pinot Noir
- Martinelli’s River Road Vineyard (2018) Chardonnay AND Pinot Noir
- Little Boot Vineyard (2019) Pinot Noir
As you probably already know we count on getting grapes for the Maritana Vineyards wines from some of the top independent grape growers in the Russian River Valley. We literally could not exist without their willingness to work closely with us and deliver world class grapes to our winery. We have been fortunate to work with the Dutton Ranch group as well as our friend and legendary vineyard manager Charlie Chenoweth to secure grapes beginning in 2017.
Last year, we added a couple of Martinelli properties to our list of grape sources – primarily for the La Riviére Chardonnay and the Le Russe Pinot Noir wines but we were amazed to be able to purchase some grapes from the Maritnelli’s highly regarded Moonshine Ranch as well. We have been pestering the George and Lee Jr. to sell us some grapes and they came up with some beautiful fruit in 2018.
Mike Sullivan from Benovia Winery included some fantastic Pinot Noir for 2018 and we look forward to continuing that association with their Martaella Vineyard for Pinot Noir – and adding a tiny bit of Chardonnay in 2019 as well. The 2018 Martaella Vineyard sourced Pinot Noir has added a great deal of complexity and depth to our Le Russe Pinot Noir and there will be a small single vineyard designate, too.
If you have been looking closely, you may have seen on social media that we picked up a little fruit from an old friend – Jenkins Ranch this past year. The 2018 is going to be a single vineyard designate and we look forward to developing this relationship that extends back to the “olden days” at Patz & Hall. For now, we are getting only Dijon Clone 115 from Jenkins but it’s turning out to be a really beautifully scented Pinot Noir.
Most exciting for 2019 will be the arrival of a new superstar Pinot Noir site called Five Wells Vineyard on the very southern edge of the Russian River Valley AVA. We’ve taken a nice position at Five Wells Vineyard and expect it to produce wine for the Le Russe blend in 2019 with a possibility of creating a new single vineyard Pinot Noir wine as well. We are excited to have Maclain Wells and his team working with us this year. We expect big things from this vineyard in the future.
Our buddy Charlie Chenoweth (who also farms Jenkins Ranch) – has offered us a real treat inHe is going to sell us grapes from a tiny slice at one of his top sites called “Little Boot Vineyard“. This vineyard has been quietly producing lux level Pinot Noir grapes for a couple of other wineries and we can’t wait to see what we can do with it.
We’ve made some adjustments to our contracts to make room for these grapes. It’s an interesting part of our job to seek out the absolute best vineyards and growers we can; to give us the kind of quality we need to create the wines of our vision. It won’t stop after just one year.
