We irrigate the vineyard with our domestic well water. Our intention is to provide the vines with just enough water to be “in-balance”. Excessive water can dilute the wine grape juice with large hydrated berries. Inadequate irrigation can over-stress the vines, which can lead to immature fruit and making them more susceptible to potential disease.
When the fruit is at its optimum degree of ripeness, sugar concentration and flavor, we harvest the grapes by hand in the early morning hours into small ½-ton micro bins. The fruit is delivered to our facilities at Templeton Wine Services before the heat of the day and is immediately placed into a conditioned atmosphere.
Our ranch is located in the Pleasant Valley area of the Paso Robles appellation on a bluff overlooking the Estrella River, where the clay loam soil and extreme diurnal temperature variation yields wonderfully interesting flavors.
With viticulture practices specified by Bill Kesselring, which include hand pruning and thinning to ultra-low loading, our vines are not over stressed but balanced with irrigation and nutrition practices that allow the fruit to ripen early and hang long until it meets the optimum ripeness and maturity.
Five acres of clone “8” Cabernet Sauvignon vines are own rooted and planted in north – south rows on 6’ x 11’ spacing. The vines have been trained on a bi-lateral cordon and are hand pruned, shoot positioned, shoot thinned and fruit thinned to a crop load of less than 2½ tons per acre. These vines are positioned with a vertically modified sprawl with eastern fruit exposure.
Positioned at an elevation of 880’ ASL and located on a gently rising slope approximately 80’ above the Estrella River, the vineyard is well drained of most extremely cold air, providing a degree of natural frost protection in spring. This same topography and the prevailing wind pattern also provide a natural protection against powdery mildew.