Dry farmed, practicing organic viticulture

The Trout Gulch vineyard sits at 800’ above the tiny town of Aptos, about 4 miles from the ocean in Santa Cruz county. The site was planted in 1980 to the old Wente clone of Chardonnay which is considered by many to be the heritage selection of Chardonnay in California.The soils in this cool climate site are sandy loam and the vines are carefully tended by Richard Alfaro. Harvest often stretches until mid October and the resulting wines are high in natural acidity with a notable salinity on the palate.