| Situated in Contra Costa County, Carla’s Vineyard is a historic, century-old vineyard owned by Doug Meadows and his wife, Carla. Luckily for us, they have preserved their family land while suburban sprawl has closed in on the parameters of their vineyard. Today, the ancient, head-pruned, dry-farmed vines remain, rooted in compact soil of sand and loam that has protected them for over a hundred years. Breezes from the nearby Sacramento Delta cool the warm days, lending bright balancing acids to the intense, concentrated fruit. In this vineyard, hand harvesting is a must, and the pickers’ backs become as stooped and twisted as the vines themselves. The fruit was field sorted and placed into small bins. At the winery, we cold soaked the grapes and placed them into small, open-top containers that allowed for regular punch-downs throughout fermentation. Approximately 20 percent of the grapes were left whole cluster, which is important for drawing forward the concentrated flavors from these old vines. We aged the wine for approximately 14 months to integrate flavors and add structure. |
