When we began planting Chardonnay cuttings in 1980, there were no vineyards in our far western end of the Santa Ynez Valley, except for the famed Sanford & Benedict Vineyard about two miles to the east. We were told it would be difficult to ripen fruit in the cool, maritime climate. But we believed that the sunny days and chilly nights would allow the grapes to mature slowly and develop flavors and texture that the only come with a long “hang time.”

Our experiences in the vineyards of Burgundy taught us that the vineyard should be planted on its own roots, rather than grafted onto American rootstock, and irrigated as little as possible. There is the risk of Phyloxera, the root lice that destroyed virtually all of the original vineyards in France, but as virgin vineyard, we felt the threat was minimal.

We planted in the deep alluvial soils just above the flood plain of the Santa Ynez River. After a few years, the new vines had sunk their roots deep into the riparian aquifer, and we no longer needed to irrigate. With a deep root system, the vines pick up the minerals and flavors that are unique to our particular site which, in turn carries through into the wine. In years with low rainfall this can make for a very lean harvest.

We have always tried to keep the vines we introduced in harmony with the indigenous flora and fauna of the Santa Ynez Valley. We have maintained the natural “green” cover crop that nature spent millions of years developing. We know that the various burrowing rodents prefer the natural and native roots, such as wild radish, to our grapevines. We have never sprayed insecticides or pesticides. We have found this minimalist approach to farming helps maintain the natural balance of nature in the vineyard.