Where Did these Grapes Come From?

Stryker Sonoma is very proud of the wine we produce. We have about 25 acres of planted grapes on our estate and as our estate matured our winemakers wanted to create wines from mature, unique vineyards throughout the county.
I have enjoyed learning all about the different AVA’s that Stryker Sonoma deems valuable.  Tim and Jenn have really done a fabulous job choosing the vineyards they know and trust to make great wines. I wanted to get to know our higher elevation AVA’s where several of the wines on our current tasting list come from. Our ’05 Cabernet Sauvignon is from Rockpile and our Two Moon Vineyard Merlot is from Dry Creek.

ROCKPILE
Way up there and far away,” is what we said when we first visited Rockpile Ranch.  It is a kidney wrenching twenty-five mile drive west of Lake Sonoma.  Like many things, however, the reward is worth the effort.  Originally an old sheep ranch first planted to vineyard by homesteader Tennessee Bishop in 1872.

It was dubbed an AVA in 2002 as Sonoma County’s 12th wine appellation. Named Rockpile Ranch the site is now owned by former U. C. Berkeley professors Rod and Cathy Park. They farm the property with only solar power and natural spring water. The 2,000 foot elevation and shallow red, rocky soils are similar to Napa's Howell Mountain and so is the fruit: Great acidity, deep color, and the ability to age. The character and complexity of our wines from this AVA has created a sort of cult following with wineclub members eagerly anticipating the release of the newest vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet franc from Rockpile Ranch.


TWO MOON
The current Merlot we are pouring in the tasting room is our ’04 Two Moon Merlot. Two Moon Vineyard is located in Dry Creek Valley just south of Rockpile and Northwest of Healdsburg. A branch of the Russian River; It is 16 miles long and 2 miles wide with about 9,000 acres of vines planted. The AVA was established in 1983 and currently has 167 wineries. Before Prohibition Dry Creek was prominently known for producing Zinfandel but in the 1970’s with the replanting of vines Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel became the most prominiently planted varietals.
Two Moon Vineyard (named from the reflection of the full moon onto the vineyard pond) sprawls across the top of McCray Ridge 1,700 feet above Dry Creek Valley and commands spectacular views of the Mayacamas Range, Healdsburg’s Fitch Mountain, and the Santa Rosa plain below.  Situated above the fog line, Two Moon Vineyard begins each day bathed in sunlight.
The vineyard’s terraces "twist and bend, much like an ‘E’ ticket ride," laughed the late Stan Simpson owner and viticulturalist.  The imposing terrain may partially explain Stan’s “hands-off” farming style. He rarely interfered with a vine’s natural expression of what it is and where it’s grown. Farming is limited to those practices that best help vines maintain balanced energy: stressed but never distressed. Our Cabernet from Two Moon exhibits Merlot-like roundness with a live-forever tannic structure and our Merlot shows an ageibility and structure that is a pleasant surprise, a Cabernet drinkers Merlot.
It always good to know where your wine comes from, makes drinking it that much more enjoyable. ~ AnneMarie