If the saying “Time flies when
you are having fun” is true, then I have been living the dream for the past
quarter century. Let me explain. Our first vintage of Pinot Noir from the
Sisters Vineyard the 2000. That makes
this edition, the 2024 vintage, the twenty-fifth from Sisters Vineyard. Seems like just yesterday we were crushing
the grapes for the first time at McManis Family Vineyards, where I produced my
wine from 1998 through 2010, before moving to Amador. Then again maybe my uncle was right when he
said, “Life is like a roll of toilet paper.
It goes faster at the end.” It
feels like time is going by so much faster today. In any event we have a long history with this
vineyard and like the flavors it provides.
The Sisters Vineyard is one of
the southernmost vineyards in the Cuttings Wharf Road neighborhood in
Carneros. The reason it is the
southernmost is that any vine planted further South will bear the brunt of salt
intrusion from the San Pablo Bay. Here
the vines are bathed in the daily breezes, some may call it wind, coming off
the bay. Mornings are often shrouded in
fog until close to noon. But it is this
maritime influence that provides the character we gently coax from the grapes
and into the wine.
