Falstaff Road

The Falstaff Road vineyard is our coldest planting site just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean. Its vines are perched on a ridge top near the town of Freestone in the Russian River Valley AVA.

During the heat of the summer, the ridgelines near the coast are cooled by ocean breezes that precede the pervasive marine layer in this part of Sonoma County. Falstaff rarely rises above 75-degrees in the summer and nighttime temperatures often slip into the low 50s.

This cool environment is ideal for ripening Pinot Noir slowly -- achieving a near perfect balance between vibrant acids and ripe flavors.

After many backhoe pits and consultation of two soil scientists, we discovered Falstaff has an almost perfectly uniform sandy loam soil known as "Goldridge." This shallow and well-drained soil is ideal for growing Pinot Noir so close to the coastline. Once again, we chose to plant at a very high density, spacing vines four feet apart with five-foot rows. High density planting forces the vines to compete for water and nutrients, resulting in smaller-sized vines that produce a limited crop with more intense flavor.

Falstaff Road was planted with 11.7 acres of Pinot Noir in 2009. Benovia chose a very low vigor rootstock 420A and heirloom and Dijon selections of Pinot Noir which would produce small clusters and encourage early ripening. The vineyard's first harvest is expected in the fall of 2012.