2020 Ocean's Ghost

The Ghost’s fruit comes from our best single vineyard blocks, 14 and 15. These spectacular, contiguous sections lie out on what I refer to as our West Mesa. It is a relatively exposed section of our ranch, and as such the vines are bathed by a daily cool breeze. Because the West Mesa consistently produced our best wines over the years, for me it is a magical place where I have spent a considerable amount of time, and put out a considerable amount of effort over the last 30 years. This will unfortunately be the last vintage of this wine from my vineyard as we have lost the vines to Pierce's Disease. It may be just be my wishful thinking, but I think that this swan song bottling is the best wine that I’ve ever made.

Ocean’s Ghost is a name that describes two magical blocks of Pinot Noir that are influenced by the Ocean, both currently and historically. Currently, the influence is from our climate, its cool breezes and various translations of the marine layer that is offered up daily as if it were a gift from the ocean. Humans are not the only creatures that love a cool breeze. Pinot Noir has a strong affection for them as well. Historically, the influence comes from the soil on the West Mesa, which is light, grayish, diatom infused sandy loam that was at one point believed to be an ancient sea bed eons ago. Of all my Pinots, Ocean’s Ghost is the one whose signature is most thoroughly derived from the ocean.