Rancho La Viña Vineyard boasts a plenitude of life. They are famous at the local farmers market for their organically grown heirloom tomatoes, squash and green beans, which are grown below a century old certified organic Walnut orchard. Crowning this beautiful ranch is a relatively small vineyard exclusively planted to Pinot Noir. The ranch’s history predates California; It was initially granted to the Cota family in the 19th century for their achievements and service in the Spanish Army. When California ceded to the United States, Mexican and Spanish Land Grants were honored and it wasn’t until 1872 that the Cota family sold the ranch. Joseph W. Cooper purchased the ranch, but after a majority of his offspring chose to sell their subdivided parcels of the property in 1911, only a small amount of the land remained – Rancho La Viña Vineyard. Joseph W. Cooper’s descendants still own and operate the ranch. Our history with the land began in 2008 when we harvested our first Pinot Noir crop with Rancho La Viña Vineyard. The resulting wine tends to be the most fruit forward of our Pinot Noirs, which may have something to do with the fertile soils that are fed by a naturally running spring and our clone selection; on Rancho La Viña Vineyard, clones 115 and 777 tend to produce darker, brooding berry fruit flavors. All grapes are hand harvested and hand sorted before fermented in small lots and barrel-aged in 50% new French oak barrels and 50% neutral French oak barrels for 540 days before they are bottled. All of our vineyard designated wines express the nuanced characteristics discovered on remarkably unique and excellent vineyards.
Rancho La Viña Vineyard boasts a plenitude of life. They are famous at the local farmers market for their organically grown heirloom tomatoes, squash and green beans, which are grown below a century old certified organic Walnut orchard. Crowning this beautiful ranch is a relatively small vineyard exclusively planted to Pinot Noir. The ranch’s history predates California; It was initially granted to the Cota family in the 19th century for their achievements and service in the Spanish Army. When California ceded to the United States, Mexican and Spanish Land Grants were honored and it wasn’t until 1872 that the Cota family sold the ranch. Joseph W. Cooper purchased the ranch, but after a majority of his offspring chose to sell their subdivided parcels of the property in 1911, only a small amount of the land remained – Rancho La Viña Vineyard. Joseph W. Cooper’s descendants still own and operate the ranch. Our history with the land began in 2008 when we harvested our first Pinot Noir crop with Rancho La Viña Vineyard. The resulting wine tends to be the most fruit forward of our Pinot Noirs, which may have something to do with the fertile soils that are fed by a naturally running spring and our clone selection; on Rancho La Viña Vineyard, clones 115 and 777 tend to produce darker, brooding berry fruit flavors. All grapes are hand harvested and hand sorted before fermented in small lots and barrel-aged in 50% new French oak barrels and 50% neutral French oak barrels for 540 days before they are bottled. All of our vineyard designated wines express the nuanced characteristics discovered on remarkably unique and excellent vineyards.