Vineyards

We are proud to work with some of the best farmers in Sacramento and the surrounding region. Some of the vineyards are young and are farmed by creative youngsters with vision and others are older, established sites that continue to remind us of our wine growing heritage. All HWC wines are single vineyard designated and express their unique terroir.

Aparicio

Sutter Creek - Chenin Blanc, Zinfandel

Apariocio Vineyard was planted to Zinfandel and Carrignan in 1934 at the top of Ridge Road just outside Sutter Creek CA by Santos Aparicio. The soil is a remnant of a Mehrten mud flow, which is a volcanic conglomerate of iron rich clay and andesite cobbles. This deposit overlies slate and green schists. There is no water on the property whatsoever, so the vines were established by watering them by hand from a barrel that was filled in the creek below and hauled up to the vineyard by mule. In 1973 Joe Aparicio took over for his father and planted Chenin Blanc in the same fashion: own-rooted, head-trained, and watered by hand.

Today John and Steve Murrill, Joe's neighbors, farm the vineyard just as Joe and his father farmed it: naturally, sustainably, utilizing cover crops, and methodical pruning. We pick Zinfandel and Chenin Blanc from this his magnificent vineyard.

sutter ranch

Clarksburg - Chenin Blanc

This vineyard is located deep in the delta in the southern most part of the Clarksburg AVA where the average temperature is lower than that of the northern end and of the Lodi AVA to the east. The wind howls through the vineyard bringing cool marine air that tempers the summer heat. We make several passes each year to pick just the right fruit at just the right time. The first pick is for Methode Traditionelle and/or Pet-Nat. The second pick is for both Pet Nat and the barrel fermented still wine. The third pick is for the young Chenin that we call 'SRV'. We look for a nexus of acidity, sweetness, flavor, and phenolic ripeness in order to produce Chenin Blanc that exceeds the expectations of Sacramento Delta wine.

Palmero

Bordon Ranch - Chenin Blanc

The Palmero Family Vineyard was planted in 1983 by Gerald Cresci on a rocky swale in the Borden Ranch sub AVA of Lodi. The soils are austere: pink granite and quartz. This geology is the result of eons of erosion and probably a major event where an ancient moraine collapsed, violently sending granite (and possibly volcanics) through the geologically diverse foothill metamorphic zone thereby depositing a variety of materials on the valley floor. One can observe similar deposits in several other drainages up and down the valley west of the Sierra Nevada foothills. Western low lying areas of Calaveras County and eastern Clements Hills sub AVA are similar in soil composition to the Borden Ranch area.

The Palmero Family Vineyard locale is quite warm and the vines naturally crop at about 2.2 tons to the acre. We have 6 of the 13 rows here and we pick the fruit ourselves long before normal harvest time when the laborers are readily available. It makes little sense to hire a crew to pick six rows; the personal satisfaction we get from harvesting this special spot is great, although picking does take quite a while due to the small clusters. It takes a lot more work to pick when the clusters are the size of a golf ball!

Warm days and rocky soil help create early ripening, small clusters, which brings a concentration of aromas and flavors to the wine while maintaining high natural acidity. This is crucial to making long lived, complex Chenin Blanc. Ripeness and good acidity are sometimes hard to come by in this part of California. This little vineyard, although part of Lodi, is actually within Sacramento County allowing us to put 'Sacramento' on the label. It's a point of pride for us to be able to do that with the special wine that this vineyards produces.

Rorick Heritage Vineyards

Calaveras - Chenin Blanc, Zinfandel

Rorick Heritage vineyard is one of the most fascinating vineyards for me. It was originally surveyed during the gold rush and copies of that survey are stored on the property today. They did not find any gold but they did find limestone out-croppings jutting up from the valley floor, surrounded by decomposed schist, which constitutes the hillsides on each side of the valley. The vineyard was first planted to Cabernet and Chardonnay. Although we may have grown a bit tired of the Cab/Chard domination in California, it is worth noting that these blocks were own-rooted and the chardonnay is of Wente origins. About twenty years ago, the Stevenot folks planted the surrounding hillsides with Zinfandel, Syrah, Viognier and other sun loving Rhone varieties. In 2012 Matthew Rorick and his family purchased the vineyard; all 70 planted acres of it, and began rehabilitating it.

Stampede Vineyard

Clements Hills - Zinfandel

Planted to Zinfandel and Burger in 1900 in an ancient, sandy, dry creek-bed, this vineyard yields under one ton of exceptional fruit per acre. We honor the terroir, local viticulture, and winemaking traditions by field blending these two varieties whole cluster. Nothing is added but a judicious amount of sulfur at bottling in order to achieve what we think is a true expression of this vineyard. We see enough fruit to make only about half of a barrique per vintage.

Heringer Vineyards

Clarksburg - Nebbiolo

The Heringer family has a long history of farming in Clarksburg and has begun setting the example for organic farming in the region. The Nebbiolo we make from their vineyard is one of the lightest and most varietally correct you will find in California. That being said, the five rows of Nebbiolo they have planted is quite different from what we see in Italy. The soils are much richer here in the delta, the weather is much warmer and the vines are pruned in a completely opposite way than what is the tradition in Italy. It’s trained on a quadrilateral cordon system and cropped at five tons to the acre.

Wilson Vineyards

Clarksburg - Chenin Blanc

Wilson Vineyard, located deep in the Sacramento river delta near Elk Slough, provides us with thoughtfully farmed, organic Chenin Blanc.

Wirz Vineyard

Cienega Valley - Riesling

This vineyard was planted by Almaden in 1963, back when big wineries were still planting vines on their own roots and furrow irrigation. Miraculously, the vineyard remains intact, thanks to work of the Wirz family. They were hired by Almaden to farm it because they lived on the property. Almaden eventually sold the vineyard to Pat Wirz’s father and Pat is the man who has been in charge for the past 45 years, farming it as his father once did with strict practices that honor the old tradition of caring for the land as well as the vines. 

The site is just east of the San Andreas Fault. This piece of land has a limestone base with decomposed granite overlaying. Although it sits at about 1,000 feet above sea level and gets some marine air, the days are frequently quite warm. The vines are head trained, tiny bush vines spaced ten feet apart and the clusters range in size from golf ball to baseball. The yield is typically about one ton per acre.