Where We Grow
Small Sonoma County Vineyards, Lasting Impression
The Barbers lease and farm smaller vineyards around Petaluma. They grow all their fruit organically. They are believers in the single vineyard model of winemaking: that each wine should come from individual vineyard sites and express the uniqueness of that particular vineyard and soil.
Sonoma Mountain – Zinfandel & Cabernet
Brutal Hill
Planted in 1975, the Brutal Hill vineyard is east of Petaluma on Sonoma Mountain at an elevation just under 2000 ft. The entrance to the vineyard is where 4 acres of cabernet is planted. Further into the property, up a steep gravel mountain road and planted on a rugged mountain slope, is 3 acres of a zinfandel field blend. This vineyard is mostly zinfandel, with alicante bouschet, petite sirah, (and a lot of vines we just don’t know what they are) planted interspersed in the zinfandel and all harvested at the same time.
The vineyard benefits from its cool surroundings and volcanic/clay loam/ granite soils, yielding grapes of balance and finesse. This steep, remote mountain slope is not easy to farm, and has destroyed a lot of farm equipment over the years (and sometimes winegrower Mike Barber’s sanity), but the Barbers continue to farm this beautiful, savage place because these vines yield some of the best wine in Sonoma County.
Petaluma Gap – Pinot Noir & Chardonnay
Denman Ranch
2 acres planted to both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay – Denman Ranch is a noticeable historic landmark right on the border between Petaluma and Penngrove. The vines here benefit from well drained, sandy loam soils and the cooling fog that blankets most of Petaluma in the mornings and evenings, allowing us to ripen the fruit slower and harvest later than most other pinot noir in Sonoma County.
Carneros Sangiovese
Santo Giordano
Just outside of Petaluma and in the southern most part of the Carneros appellation, this vineyard has fantastic views across the bay of San Francisco and Berkeley on a clear day. Planted in 1999 on clay and thin rocky loam, the persistent breeze from the bay cools the Italian varietals on the property and delays ripening. The sangiovese from the property offers a truly elegant, old-world expression of the grape.
Petaluma Gap - Pinot Gris
Asombrosa
Tucked away in the rolling hills of the Petaluma Gap’s western dairy country, this is a unique 1 acre vineyard planted entirely to Pinot Gris. The soils are decomposed granite and thick adobe clay, and the head trained vines benefit from the fog and winds that roll in from the ocean every night.