The Vineyards - The Wine Begins Here
The grapes for Peterson wines are grown in small, traditionally farmed vineyards,
primarily in the Dry Creek Valley. Though each vintage varies from year
to year due to weather factors, the vineyard locations remain the same.
And since all Peterson wines originate from the same small plantings, there
is a true consistency of place that is reflected in our wines. These are the vineyards that grow the grapes for Peterson wines: Bradford Mountain Vineyard, at the western edge of Dry Creek Valley, is 32 acres on the very top of the mountain that I cleared and planted mostly in the 1980s. Great pains were taken to search for the proper varietals and clones to plant in the mineral-rich mountain soil, soil that is the color of rust. This vineyard produces our Cabernet Sauvignon, Agraria (Cab Franc/Merlot blend), Bradford Mountain Zinfandel, and the soon-to-be famous Gravity Flow Block produces our Syrah. Mountain vineyards consistently produce the greatest wines in California. The Bradford Mountain vineyard, elevation 1000 feet, reinforces this statement. Well-drained, red-clay soil, combined with sunny days and cool nights produce small, intensely flavored grapes with a higher acidity and a lower pH than valley fruit. These grapes are picked at a higher sugar to achieve the perfect balance for exceptional wines. The combination of the varied mountaintop conditions, including drainage, sun exposure, and soil compositions, creates a variety of grapes with intense fruit structure and excellent characteristics for producing age-worthy wines. Norton Ranch, a benchland vineyard off Lytton Springs Road, is the former location of Peterson Winery. The Norton Ranch Estate vineyard sits a little above the valley floor on one of the benchlands of Dry Creek Valley. The soil at Norton Ranch has a larger percentage of clay and gravel resulting in lower yields of intensely flavored and balanced fruit. On the Norton Ranch is grown Zinfandel that is the basis for our Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel, and some Mouvedre. The majority of our Sangiovese is grown here on a southwest facing hillside terrace that I planted in the late 1980’s.
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The West Vineyard is the source of our Tradizionale Zin, coming
from an 80-year old dry-farmed, head-trained Zinfandel vineyard on a hillside
in the southeast corner of Dry Creek Valley. This is a traditional field-blend
vineyard; a small portion is planted with mixed black varieties such as
Petite Sirah, Carignane and Mataro, along with a few white grape varieties.
I worked with the grower Tom West on a more recent planting in the vineyard
that has become the source of our Petite Sirah, as well as some younger
vine Zinfandel for our Dry Creek blend.
Lipton-Daniel
Vineyard occupies just a portion of the organic orchard that surrounds
Doug and Cindy’s home in the heart of Dry Creek Valley. When Doug
Lipton and Cindy Daniel approached me a few years ago regarding what type
of grapes to plant in their Dry Creek Valley organic farm, I raised the
idea of growing a field-blend of Muscat Blanc and Orange Muscat. They
liked the idea and after working with them to get the vineyard up and
producing, I jumped at the chance to make a wine from their Muscat grapes.
Planted to Muscat Blanc (85%) and Orange Muscat (15%), the vines are head
trained and farmed to produce the most aromatic, intensely Muscat flavored
grapes.