2021 Fall Wine Club Release Notes
The fall allocation is currently in progress. These wines are for wine club only. If you are not already a member and would like to join, please navigate to the wine club page at the header above or CLICK HERE.
2021 FALL WINE CLUB RELEASE NOTES
2019 Ledge - Adams Ranch Vineyard
Paso Robles, Willow Creek District
62% Syrah, 34% Grenache, 4% Roussanne
100% Adams Ranch Vineyard
15.1% ABV
3.7 pH
Harvest Date:
10/4/19 (Syrah and Roussanne) 11/7/19 (Grenache)
The Adams Ranch Vineyard was first planted in 2005 and is the Ledge estate vineyard. It is in the Paso Robles, Willow Creek District AVA in the Santa Lucia Mountain range near the York Mountain AVA. The red varieties planted are Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Cinsaut and Counoise and the white varieties are Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Clairette Blanche. The vineyard is designed to produce two field blends, one red and one white. The white wines will come online in 2023 and the Roussanne is currently cofermented with the red grapes for additional complexity. Rosé will always be an option and Cinsaut and Counoise were planted partially for this potential, inspired by the 2017 and 2019 Ledge rosé wines sourced from James Berry Vineyard. The estate vineyard is currently 15 acres with another 15 acres plantable. The vines are farmed in a variety of styles and spacings including 11’x11’ head trained, 8’x3’ cordon and the insanely tight meter by meter spacing.
The Syrah and Roussanne were harvested and fermented together with wild yeast from 10/4/19 to 10/28/19 in a stainless steel tank. The Roussanne was included 100% whole cluster and the Syrah was 50% Whole Cluster. The Grenache was also a wild ferment, 100% destemmed and in a stainless tank from 10/17/19 -11/7/19. The wines were sealed and cold-soaked until the onset of fermentation (2 to 3 days) and saw pump-overs, delestage and manual punch-downs until completely dry. The wines were then sealed and deprived of oxygen for a day or two before free-run and pressing into barrel.
The wines sat on gross lees prior to bottling and were aged in new and neutral large-format French and Hungarian oak barrels.
Soil Type:
Sandy clay loam, sandstone
Arbuckle-San Ysidro complex
Gaviota-San Andreas association
The Arbuckle series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium from sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. Arbuckle soils are on low terraces, and have slopes of 0 to 75 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 508 millimeters (20 inches) and the mean annual air temperature is about 16 degrees C (61 degrees F).
The San Ysidro series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils that formed in alluvium from sedimentary rocks. San Ysidro soils are on fan remnants and stream terraces and have slopes of 0 to 9 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 20 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 59 degrees F.
The Gaviota series consists of very shallow or shallow, well drained soils that formed in material weathered from hard sandstone or meta-sandstone. Gaviota soils are on hills and mountains and have slopes of 2 to 100 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 20 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 60 degrees F.
The San Andreas series consists of moderately deep soils that formed in material weathered from soft sandstone. San Andreas soils are on hills and mountainous uplands and have slopes of 9 to 75 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 20 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 61 degrees F.
2019 Ledge - Bien Nacido Vineyards
Santa Maria Valley - Santa Barbara County AVA
100% Syrah, Estrella Clone
Block 11B, Bien Nacido Vineyards
15.5% ABV
3.9 pH
Harvest Date:
10/31
The Estrella clone of Syrah was brought to Paso Robles from the south of France by Gary Eberly, then an Enology student at UC Davis. In 1986, his was the first 100% Syrah bottled in America at his Estrella River Winery. Bien Nacido Vineyard’s nursery was the source for the James Berry Vineyard/Saxum Bone Rock Syrah, and JBV is where we sourced cuttings for our “Ledge Block” of Syrah. Ledge co-owner Ciera Adams was raised in Santa Barbara and we wanted to develop a presence in the county. Fortunately for us, Bien Nacido expressed enthusiasm for our wines and we were able to secure a contract for their coveted Syrah in 2018.
Harvested and fermented wild from 10/31/19 to 11/20/19 in a stainless steel tank. The fruit was completely destemmed with 35 percent of "choice" stems returned to the tank. The wines were sealed and cold-soaked until the onset of fermentation (2 to 3 days) and saw pump-overs, delestage and manual punch downs until completely dry. The wines were then sealed and deprived of oxygen for a day or two before free run and pressing into new and neutral large format French oak barrels.
Soil Type:
Loam, shales, uplifted marine volcanics and limestone.
Los Osos Clay Loam
Santa Lucia Shaly Clay
The Los Osos series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in material weathered from sandstone and shale. Los Osos soils are on uplands and have slopes of 5 to 75 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 25 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 60 degrees F.
The Santa Lucia series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in material weathered from white shale containing some ash, and some siliceous and diatomaceous material. Santa Lucia soils are on uplands and have slopes of 2 to 75 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 25 inches and the mean annual air temperature is 59 degrees F.
2019 Ledge - MCA Cuvée
Central Coast, California
70% Syrah, 25% Grenache, 5% Roussanne
Adams Ranch Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyards and James Berry Vineyard 15.5% ABV
3.8 pH
Harvest Date:
10/7/19-10/31/19
MCA are my initials (Mark Clement Adams) and a lifelong nickname, but this wine’s name also pays homage to friend and mentor Justin Smith, who casually refers to Ledge wines as “MCA Cuvée”. 2019 saw substantial new plantings at the Adams Ranch and led to our streamlining fruit sourcing to three vineyards: Adams Ranch Vineyard, Bien Nacido Vineyards and James Berry Vineyard. MCA Cuvée begins its journey in what we call a “hodge podge” barrel, a barrel that houses the remaining pressed wines from various vineyards. The blend is completed using hand-selected complimentary barrels from our other lots resulting in the final blend. A slight labeling miscalculation is present here, as this wine includes a very small percentage of Mourvèdre not noted, from the 2019 James Berry Vineyard co-ferment of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Roussanne.
This is a blend of barrels from Adams Ranch, Bien Nacido and James Berry Vineyards. The wines were sealed and cold-soaked until the onset of fermentation (2 to 3 days) and saw pump-overs, delestage and manual punch downs until completely dry. The wines were then sealed and deprived of oxygen for a day or two before free run and pressing into new and neutral large format French and Hungarian oak barrels.
Soil Type:
Sandy clay loam, sandstone, shales, uplifted marine volcanics, and limestone.