Frostwatch - the Vineyard

The Frostwatch Vineyard is set atop a rocky apron in the shadow of Bennett Peak. Originally established in the mid-1990's, the 15 acre vineyard was planted primarily to Chardonnay and Merlot with a small half acre block devoted to old clone Zinfandel sourced from Eldorado County in the Sierra Foothills. The 2007 harvest represented the final year of long term grape contracts between ourselves and other wineries in place since the vineyard was originally planted. Over the past 12 years we have had the opportunity to carefully evaluate what works well on our site and what does not. To that end, in 2008 we began a significant project that involves the conversion of approximately seven acres presently planted to Merlot to other, mostly white varieties. Our very cool site combined with our desire to produce red wines with a bold, riper flavor profile suggest that it is economically and qualitatively feasible to grow high quality red wine grapes on a very limited amount of our total acreage. We have decided to keep two acres devoted to Merlot - two acres that span the entire backside of the vineyard and share similar altitude and rocky, well-drained soils. This acreage, not coincidentally, has been the principal source for all of the Frostwatch Merlots released to date.

About approximately four and one-half acres of the converted acreage will be devoted to three different selections of old clone Chardonnay-the first two are "Old Wente" (sourced from the Platt Vineyard on the Sonoma Coast and the Hyde Vineyard in Carneros). The Old Wente selections are known for their intense flavor components and relatively low yields. The third selection is based on the "Spring Mountain" clone which is known for powerful, pleasing aromatics of flowers and spice. In addition to Chardonnay, about two acres of the converted acreage will be devoted to Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon-the two varieties which make up our proprietary white blend, which we call Kismet. Lastly, based on the recommendations of our viticultural consultant Greg Bjornstadt (formerly Tandem co-founder and now producing wine under his own label, Bjornstadt Cellars), we have devoted an acre to Pinot Noir, specifically the Swan selection which has historically produced some of the finest Pinots on the North Coast.

We are approaching the vineyard conversion from two angles. Approximately one half of the vineyard conversion project involves actually removing the entire existing vine. These areas will be replanted in June, using a denser spacing with a rootstock optimally matched to the grafted clones (rootstock 420A). The other half of the conversion project will be "topped over" - meaning that the new scion variety (wine grape variety) will be grafted on the upper trunk and rootstock of the existing vine. In both cases this has allowed us to utilize the existing trellising and irrigation systems, which are still sound. This makes the conversion process more cost effective and will also allow us to get the portion of the vineyard that was topped over back in production as early as next year. In three years, when the sections that were ripped out and replanted come into production, we will be able to compare density and rootstock differences in the wine produced.