The Crus Preeminence of Site

Named for a mountain spring located on the site, Waters Ranch sits at an elevation of 2100 feet on a secluded mountaintop in the southernmost reaches of Atlas Peak. With its elevated position, the site is perched above the Pacific marine layer with long, unimpeded sunlight hours. Temperatures here are influenced by the thermocline, a phenomenon that upends standard models of air movement. During warm days hot air sinks into the valley, while cooler air is suspended above. At night, it reverses, with warm air rising. The scant topsoil here (6 to 10 inches) is the result of the slow weathering of volcanic rock over time. The Hambright soil with its weathered basalts and other igneous rocks are what we view as rarefied raw material.

Only serious winegrowers would farm this site, the stakes too great, the rewards too painfully won. When Jayson Pahlmeyer and his then Winemaker Helen Turley came to this place in 1998, they were uncompromising in their vision to develop a vineyard and produce wines that pushed boundaries. Working with Vineyard Manager David Abreu, they turned dreams into reality, planting the best sections of the site to a single, heritage clone selection of old Wente Chardonnay. Today the ranch is under the careful watch of Cleo Pahlmeyer and Jamie Watson, who continue to farm the site with the same intention and spirit.

Like a shapeshifter in the glass.....

Almost seemingly crystalline and penetrating one second, and then formless and airy the next. Always with pixelated acidity at its core. White peach, citrus blossom, lemon oil, white mineral, almond pastry. Persistent finish that can keep your attention or force you to unknowingly take another sip.

On this site we see a natural push and pull in texture from the high elevation coupled with mineral rich soils. Picked and pressed with intention. Native alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. Custom French oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The remote vineyard that is home to The Goldener sits high on a ridgeline, on a narrow plateau that parallels the San Andreas Fault before falling away into deep canyons on either side. Just three miles from the Pacific in the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA, the site is in constant dialogue with the ocean - lush fog rolls inland at night, draping the vines, leaves and grapes in cool moisture like a tonic. The interplay of warm and cold is palpable here: crisp air is permeated with sea spray, contrasting with sunny, afternoon skies and golden grasses that ripple across the surrounding hillsides that recede into forest. Light takes on pixelated patterns, refracting both from above and off the Goldridge soils beneath the vines.

It’s a wonder this site was ever planted at all, given its remote, rugged setting. Yet in the late 1990s, a visionary vintner renowned for her groundbreaking Chardonnays chose this out of-the-way spot, grafting vines from cuttings taken from another celebrated Chardonnay vineyard. Within the Fort Ross–Seaview AVA, where only a few small vineyards sit on the edge of grape-growing possibility, this organically-farmed parcel is especially rare. The second vineyard we harvest each year, it radiates both history and mystique, a place reflected in the primal character it imparts to the wine.

The Goldener moves with resonance...

Broad strokes of golden apple, quince, lemon oil, orchard blossom, acacia, and brioche, each layered over a cool mineral thread. A glow of warmth expands across the palate, yet is continually drawn back into focus by coastal tension. The finish stains with fruit and mineral — pure, amplified, hypnotic.

This ridgeline parcel, rooted in Goldridge soils in Fort Ross-Seaview, balances extremes: radiant exposure by day and ocean-cooled nights that hold acidity tight. Whole-cluster pressed, guided by native fermentations, and raised in custom French oak tailored to the site. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The bright white of those hillsides owes to outcroppings of diatomaceous earth (in essence, fossilized plankton), a defining element of the Bentrock site. Within our parcel, chunks of these calcified fossils are overlayed with deposits of clay. At 400 feet of elevation, the small block sits on a hillside shelf in a sepia-toned landscape that is stark and windblown. Dramatic is not a strong enough word for this precarious piece of earth, which derives from an ancient landslide. With mountain ranges that run east/west vs. north/south like most of California, the Sta. Rita Hills appellation is one of the windiest in the state, with cool afternoon air funneling off the nearby Pacific and through the canyons with a force close to fury.

Our relationship with Bentrock began like so many others, through friendship. Jason and Winemaker Matt Dees, who makes wines for The Hilt Estate, owner of the vineyard, met through the unofficial fraternity of New Zealand’s Craggy Range Winery, where both had previously worked. The day we visited with Dees, the wind was howling such that we could barely stand upright, let alone hear one another. But a tasting through Matt’s wines confirmed what we suspected: the wines coming off the site were mind-altering. The following year, Matt called with an opportunity we couldn't pass up: access to a small block planted on a hillside shelf, rare and distinct in character.

Exotic, with electric freshness

Planted to a heritage Burgundian selection of Chardonnay, Bentrock yields grenade-like clusters of BB-sized grapes, the smallest berries we work with. Here, the combination of porous soils and fierce winds is limiting to say the least, and yields are miniscule. To protect themselves, berries develop thick skins, creating a mouthfeel in the wine unlike any other we produce.
Honeydew melon, yuzu, lime leaf, and bergamot shimmer from the glass, carrying an exotic, almost electric freshness. Both saturating and light-refracting, coating the palate while retaining a remarkable sense of lift and depth. Beneath it all runs a cool mineral thread, chalk woven through layers of fine lees, giving the wine a luminous, almost iridescent texture.