Vineyard
Our primary vineyard (Cooper’s Mill, featured on our home page) is located in Forestville, Sonoma County and it lies in the Russian River Valley viticultural area. It is planted to Pinot Noir clones, Dijon and Pommard. The soil is deep alluvial and the vines are planted on 7-foot rows with seven feet between vines. This vineyard is bordered by Mark West Creek on its entire Northern edge. It is a wonderful habitat for many wild animals that live along its’ banks. We have seen numerous bird species, river otters, deer, turkeys, fox, raccoons, skunks, and opossum. We haven’t had too much predation on our fruit, and we love animals so we consider the loss of fruit as a sort of wildlife tax. The vineyard is adjacent to the historic site where the first power-operated saw mill was located. It was built by Captain John B. R. Cooper Circa 1838. John Cooper married the daughter of General Vallejo and therefore was granted a large amount of land including our vineyard site. The mill location has been recognized as the birthplace of the state’s multi-billion dollar timber products industry. On January 31, 1970 the site was dedicated as State Historical Landmark No. 835.
Our other vineyard is located in Forestville also, but is still being developed and the desired clones have yet to be decided upon. It shares many of the same attributes as our primary vineyard, similar soil type and climate conditions. It is also home to many species of animals. This is the location of our small wine production facility.
We have a Syrah source vineyard in Petaluma named Rockin H Ranch (Sonoma Coast Appellation). Coincidentally an armory built and used by General Vallejo still exists on the ranch overlooking the Petaluma River. It is a beautiful vineyard producing outstanding fruit. This vineyard has the benefit of cool coastal nights, warm days, and a terrific soil profile. We are grateful for our yearly fruit allocation which is highly sought after. We will be releasing the Syrah from this vineyard in early 2006.
