Pence Vineyards

Within the 200-acre working ranch is the Pence Vineyard. Seen from above, it appears as an island on an elevated plateau, which has been slowly eroded over time on all sides and is thus fully exposed to merciless cold ocean winds, morning fog and other Pacific Ocean influences. It is this combination of stressful conditions that provides the character considered essential to making great wines from our location.

Geologically, the land comprises a complex collection of several different virgin soil profiles, including Tierra, Linne and San Andreas Series, all of which are unusually dense and permeated with a variety of rock, calcareous (limestone) material and clay. Because of the nature of its topograhy, there are also several different sun aspects and variable slopes within the vineyard, making the soils all well-drained, but of varying compositions in different locations.

This unique diversity of soil complexity and topography typically reflects that of a much larger geographic area. In effect, the Pence vineyard represents a microcosm of the greater region/appellation that is so rarely seen in just one site. Because of this incredible diversity, the opportunity to create a world class vineyard was readily apparent. Thus, we took every effort to make sure we planted the vineyard block by block, row by row and selection by selection, to capture all the nuances of this unique site.