PAJAROMAS VINEYARD
Santa Cruz County
The Pajaromas vineyard bush vines in year three of growth sitting alongside the Pajaro River. The vines are planted on a 10 ft x 10 ft spacing on a diamond pattern; interplanted to Vermentino, Albariño and Furmint. Planted in 2021.
Planted and farmed by Ryan Stirm, this 2 acre site behind the winery sits at the eastern end of the agricultural hub of the Pajaro Valley in Watsonville, California. These fertile river floodplain lowlands are typically planted to strawberries, raspberries, lettuce and apples, but grapes also thrive in the mild, Pacific ocean influenced climate. The vineyard was planted to be dry-farmed and the vines are spaced 10 feet apart on a diamond pattern to allow for the most growth between vines given the rich soils found here. About 70 percent of the vines are Vermentino, about 24 percent Albarino and 6 percent Furmint. We chose these varieties as they thrive in the soils and climate conditions found here.
WIRZ VINEYARD
CIENEGA VALLEY
Wirz Vineyard looking southwest towards the Gabilan Mountains. The Riesling is in the foreground, and the Zinfandel and other reds are tucked up into the footslope of the mountains.
Farmed by Pat Wirz, this old-vine, dry-farmed vineyard was first planted in 1902 to Zinfandel, Mission (Rosa del Perù), Mataro, Orange Muscat, Carignan, and the local specialty Cabernet Pfeffer. The Riesling was planted later in 1964. It's located at about 920-1000 feet in the Gabilan Mountains about twenty miles north of the Pinnacles National Monument in the Cienega Valley AVA (San Benito County). Although it lies only twenty five miles east of the cold waters of the Monterey Bay, the coastal influence is dampened by the mountain topography and geology surrounding this site. The San Andreas fault runs through the property highlighting the convergence of two giant tectonic plates. Limestone, in the form of calcite, is the dominant geologic influence here. As these rocks eroded over the eons, they weathered into very deep sandy loam. The sandy, nutrient poor soil forces the roots to grow deep in search of water and minerals. These old vines ripen late and are extremely low-yielding, around 1 ton/acre annually.
We work with Riesling, Zinfandel, Cabernet Pfeffer, and Rosa del Perù from this historic vineyard.
SILETTO FAMILY VINEYARD
Tres Pinos - San Benito County
Looking South from the block of Cabernet Pfeffer at Siletto Vineyard in Tres Pinos, San Benito County
The Siletto Family has been farming grapes in San Benito County since the 1980’s when the late Ron Siletto became a fixture of the San Benito Viticultural scene. There are several different vineyards spread throughout the little town of Tres Pinos that make up the holdings of the Siletto Family Vineyards. Now run by the second generation John Siletto, over 50 different varieties of grapes are grown here including the San Benito County heirlooms Cabernet Pfeffer and Negrette, both of which we source from here. This site sits about 4.5 miles east of the Cienega Valley as the crow flies. This vineyard is impeccably farmed and one of the few in San Benito County to be organic.
GIMELLI VINEYARD
CIENEGA VALLEY
The Gimelli Vineyard, first planted over 120 years ago to a couple of small blocks of Zinfandel and Cabernet Pfeffer in the heart of the Cienega Valley appellation. Formerly known as the “El Gabilan” Vineyard, many of the areas other vineyards sourced their viticultural material from the original planting at this site that sits next door to the Wirz Vineyard. Purchased by Ken Gimelli in the 1990’s and extensively re-planted to mostly modern varieties, we work with the original old vine plantings of Cabernet Pfeffer and Zinfandel, with the long term plans to also work with the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. This is also on the soil as Wirz, with the calcite limestone parent material and a very deep, sandy textured soil that allows the vines to dig deep for the water below. This site is in transition to organic viticulture.
GLENWOOD VINEYARD
SANTA Cruz Mountains
Glenwood Vineyard looking southeast down the steep redwood canyon
Farmed by us, starting in 2016, this vineyard is located in the old Glenwood area of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Planted in 1997 to Pinot Noir (2 acres) and Chardonnay (1.5 acres) this vineyard sits between 950-1100 ft. up in the heart of the mountains. Nestled in a canyon on an east-southeast facing slope flanked by redwoods, live oaks, and bay trees, this vineyard receives on average 40-45" of rain annually, enough to be dry-farmed successfully without tilling. These shallow soils are weathered from Lompico Sandstone, and texturally range from sandy-loam to sandy clay-loam from the top of the slope to the bottom, respectively.
KICK-ON VINEYARD
Santa Barbara County
Kick-On Vineyard looking northeast at the Riesling planted on ancient eolian sand dunes
Also known as Kick-On Ranch, the vineyard lies approximately 6 miles west of the town of Los Alamos and about 10 miles east of the Pacific Ocean (as the crow flies). This exposed site was shaped heavily by the northwest wind that blows everyday like clockwork from late morning until sundown from April through August. Kick On Ranch sits on an ancient sand dune complex that runs along the coast and into the Los Alamos valley. These dunes formed by sand being carried by the wind are known as eolian sand dunes,
The fruit Stirm works with comes from a south-facing block that receives generous sunshine and sits above a stream terrace in the lower part of the vineyard. The soils are a mix of the eolian sand dunes and alluvial deposits with small chert cobbles. This deep, sandy loam is very nutrient poor, and, coupled with the relentless onshore wind, drastically limits the vigor of these vines. This mixture of climatic and geographical elements results in grapes that reflect the austerity of this part of the coast; where intense sunlight is moderated by the cool Pacific breeze.
As Kick-On Ranch is the longest tenured of our vineyard sources, we are working to farm this site in an organic way. As much as we'd love to change overnight, this is a long-term project that will take a few years to successfully transition. Two simple tools that have become our go-to; our hands. Maintaining a healthy vineyard without the use of chemical inputs requires a lot of hand-work, critical timing, and astute observation. So far, the results have been promising, as we’ve encouraged more acreage to be farmed organic at this vineyard.