2020 Aglianico Rosé – River Ranch Vineyard

The River Ranch is our home ranch. Our lives are rooted here and our memories start here. Roughly 108 acres, the River Ranch is located alongside the Mokelumne River and has the Gill Creek Slough running through it. These native areas boast quail, river otter, deer, kingfisher, and beaver (just to name a few) that we often see when we are checking the six vineyard blocks, that are comprised of five unique varietals. Each varietal takes advantage of the waterways and microclimate, producing distinct wines that are truly reflective of this special place.

To reflect on the 2020 growing season, we must look to the end of 2019. Our rain-season began with a good steady pace in late November and continued through early January, but Mother Nature turned off her spigot and we only had a couple good storms in March and April. As spring arrived, the vines awoke on-time, but the temperatures were erratic, resulting in shatter and poor berry set for many varietals. After a short heat spike in late May, summer temperatures were normal, and we had healthy vine canopies. In mid-August, lasting through September, high-elevation smoke from the wildfires was present off-and-on which likely moderated the forecasted high temperatures. In the end, most sensitive white varietals were harvested before the smoke arrived showing great quality aromatics and flavors, and
the poor fruit set in many of our red varietals during the Spring gave us amazing concentration of flavor and aroma in the finished wines.

Jahant AVA – Located in the center of the Lodi AVA, the Jahant AVA is geographically the smallest of Lodi’s seven AVAs – a total size of 28,000 acres, with roughly 9,000 acres planted to vineyard. It sits on highly dissected river terraces and old floodplain deposits. The classic Mediterranean climate has Delta fog influence, and receives cold air drainage and entrapment within our vineyards.