“I look at the old vineyards in Napa that were producing great wines 100 years ago. If the farming was right then, chances are it’s right now.”
“Vines are a product of their environment. There’s no escaping that. Every vineyard is unique, and you have to farm with respect for its location and surroundings. The first thing I noticed at Almacerro, besides how remote it is, were the rocks. So many rocks. That’s why it was called Piedra Hill - Piedra means rock in Spanish. Some vineyard managers try to make all their vineyards look uniform and beautifully manicured, as if for a postcard. I don’t do that. I want the vines to thrive in their own environment, even if the vineyard doesn’t look perfect. It’s a more natural, some might say old school approach. But I find that when the vines are healthy and happy, they actually end up looking pretty good too.”
- Mike Wolf, Vineyard Manager
“When you’ve got a site like this, you’ve just got to say to yourself, how could we not make a world-class wine from here? It’s ours to lose.”
“As great as this property is, the vineyard needed more attention to really thrive. There were literally tons of rocks, and even experimental graftings of suitcase clones. We’ve done a lot of work to get this vineyard performing well again and it’s starting to come on line, block by block. Now we can see that it is flourishing and we’re getting really great fruit, and we’re still replanting. Frank is in this for the long haul; he’s doing it right and taking the time to create a place that will be making special wines for generations to come.”
