As you leave the town of Sonoma and head north into the hills of the Mayacamas mountain range that separates Sonoma from Napa, within a mile and a half you are on a narrow, rutted road at the bottom of a valley, sparsely populated, and then you start climbing, and find yourself almost entirely surrounded by forest, scrub and rock. When you close the car door and turn to look up at the Alta Vista vineyard, it’s like striding across a stage and looking up at the lights and rising rows of an audience. It is, in one word, dramatic. The vines are thick. They are old — fifty years old — which is exceptional by California standards. They come from a different era, but it’s difficult to argue with the choices made at a time when scientific understanding of viticulture was almost primitive compared to today. Because these vines have still never been irrigated (also extremely rare in California), they produce beautiful fruit at twice the age most vines in California must be replanted. They adapt to the heat better, and their deep root systems (20-40 feet down) bring more complexity to the fruit development. Alta Vista is the kind of place where everything feels immediately right. It’s this effortless natural balance that you notice even tasting berries in the fall. Cabernet Sauvignon doesn’t always taste good in the field, but it does here. The elevation and poor soils result in concentrated berries, but they are not too small, which would make them too tannic; the tannins are plush and velvety, even raw. The clusters are nice. We had the feeling from the start that this vineyard, if listened to and understood, had the potential to produce truly great wine.
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