Newsletter - Soquel Vineyards

Archives

December 8, 2023

Happy Holidays!

The vineyard is dotted with yellow and red leaves -- fall colors still literally hanging on. Many vines are bare, and with every stiff wind that blows through the rows, more release. The cold temperatures allow the sap and rich nutrients to be stored in the roots for the long cold winter months, pruning is set for mid-February. The vines will show signs of life with the arrival of the warming of spring.

In the meantime, our responsibility is to amend the soils with cover crops. Simone will be sowing 300 lbs. of seed, a blend of oat and rye, and bell beans and peas, this will all be tilled by Jon later in the spring.

The Estate Pinot Noir produced a small crop of high-quality fruit, a mere three tons per acre. The wine is resting is small, 60-gallon French oak cooperage. Paul and Simone will rack for the second time in April (to pump the wine from the skin tissue and yeast).

We crushed Pinot Noir from five other vineyards, Coast Grade, Beauregard Ranch, Lester Family, Saveria and Pleasant Valley Farms, all very different in style and terroir. You are in for some very good wine in the spring of 2025!

Your Club Selection for December is our 2019 Nebbiolo, produced from the Lago Lomita Vineyard located in the Santa Cruz Mountains. This dry-farmed vineyard is at an elevation of 2,600 feet above sea level. The nights are cool, and the afternoons are warm, creating a very well-balanced wine of intense flavors. Only two tons per acre are grown, the berries are small so there is more skin to juice ratio.

We fermented it in open-top tanks, hand punched three times a day, resulting in a very well-made wine. The tannins are soft and gentle, creating a seamless mouth feel. The fruits are a balance of dry black cherries and a hint of red licorice. It was awarded 94 points in Wine Enthusiast and was awarded the “Editor’s Choice”. This wine is now sold out!

We hope you are enjoying the Club. We have a few events in the planning stages for our members next year. Until then, stay healthy and well!

With appreciation,

Peter Bargetto, Partner

October 2023 Wine Club

October 1, 2023

Hello Members,

This harvest could be a challenging vintage due to cool weather for most of the summer, but we are focused and optimistic on producing top-quality wines. Long, cool opening seasons can be ideal for complexity and ageability. The normal size crop looks great, but we were about four weeks behind a normal growing season. However, we had some warm sunny weather

recently, and we harvested the Estate vineyard on Thursday, October 5th! Amazing!

Harvesting times are all over the board in the Santa Cruz Mountains this year. Some in late September, and it will continue through October. Just depends on the weather and elevation.

Our Estate Pinot Noir fruit is pristine, clean, and very healthy. The crop load is only three tons per acre, producing a mere 180 cases per acre. We have a four-clone mix in the three-acre vineyard, always creating wine of finesse, elegance, and fruit-driven in style.

Your October release is the 2018 Sunny Knoll Pinot Noir. The Sunny Knoll Vineyard is located on Pleasant Valley Road in Corralitos. The growing season was perfect, a long dry summer with cool mornings and warm afternoons allowing the fruit to develop intense flavors. After a 2-day cold soak on dry ice, and a 10-day fermentation, the wine was aged in French Damy barrels. It displays a mix of black cherry, spice, cinnamon, and pomegranate.

Each barrel was fire-toasted to a medium toast level to produce a very complex wine. The tannins are polished and refined, and the length is long and displays sweet, creamy French oak on the fruit. Aging potential 2023-2026.

We hope you are enjoying the wines produced at our hilltop winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

We hope to see you this month for the Annual Harvest Celebration. Our tanks may be filled with Pinot Noir fruit so you might be able to see the fermentation process up close and in person.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,

Peter Bargetto, Partner

August 2023 Wine Club

August 1, 2023

Hello Members,

Our landscape has changed in the past month and many of you have seen the changes. We now have the next generation on board as a part of our amazing team working the front lines.

We want to welcome Stephanie Morgan! She is the daughter of Jon Morgan, a founding partner with Paul and me 35 years ago. Many other changes have taken place since 1987, but this one is my personal favorite. Stephanie brings with her many talents; she worked with Inglenook Winery for four and a half years in Napa Valley in the hospitality arena. She is such a talented individual and brings a fresh attitude to our amazing team. I have tasted wines with her and for such a young lady, her palate is very developed. What I most admire about her is her ability to adapt her personality to the needs of the winery.

Stephanie and Simone are the 4^th generation of wine enthusiasts to take positions in the wine industry in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Simone has been full-time in the area of production and sales for the past two years, and Stephanie is currently wearing many colorful hats, and more will be added as our company continues to thrive and be challenged by day-to-day operations.

Paul, Jon, and I are still embracing day-to-day challenges, but simply put, our bodies are slowing down. We are all active and continue to steer the ship forward, but with Simone and Stephanie on board, more and more responsibility will be given to them.

The month of August is very busy, most of our 2022 wines are being bottled this month. Paul and Simone have been busy with blending and filtrations, and Jon is focused on the Estate Vineyard – and it looks amazing!

Your Club release for August is our 2018 Merlot, produced from the Stagecoach Vineyard, Atlas Peak in Napa. This 100% Merlot was dry farmed, producing a mere two tons per acre. The small berries bring such a rich concentration of dark fruit flavors, along with silky, soft tannins. This non-irrigated vineyard has an elevation that sits at 1,700 ft above sea level. The soils are a mix of many types but are mainly composed of red volcanic and loam soils. It has a unique micro-climate, positioned out of the fog zone, so it is blessed by having a little more sun to ripen the fruit, which brings out more concentration of flavors.

We aged this wine in new French oak for 18 months. Enjoy this wine now and leave a bottle in your cellar for another two to three years to enjoy at your Sunday gatherings.

We thank you for your continued support, and it is truly a pleasure to serve you!

Sincerely,

Peter Bargetto, Partner