The old block at 37

The old block is eleven rows of Chardonnay planted in 1989, on own roots, in a spot everyone told the original owners was too exposed. Thirty-seven years later it is the most consistent block on the estate.

Old vines yield less — about two tons to the acre here — but what they yield has depth: smaller berries, thicker skins, and roots that reach far enough down that a dry July barely registers.

We farm it by hand, row by row, the way it was farmed in 1989. No hedging mid-season, no leaf-pulling to "open the canopy," no tricks. The vines decide; we assist.

The wine it makes — our Old Vine Chardonnay — is the bottle we pour for people who say they don't like Chardonnay. It is also, quietly, the one we'd save in a fire.