Home > KFV Grapevines--Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon

Deb, looking for green clusters, with chickens underfoot

Vineyard Background:

KFV is at the very northern tip of the Sonoma Valley AVA, or American Viticultural Area. We have nearly 3.5 acres (3300 vines) of three different clones of syrah. The acreage is divided between two non-contiguous vineyards.

The Lower Vineyard is at the entry to our property, below our home, and contains just short of 1/3 of our vines. There are 41 rows - 915 grapevines - and the average slope is about 15-17%.

As you drive up the road past the lower vineyard, you reach a flat knoll with our house, and then the slope begins again. On this slope resides the upper vineyard, Overall Goodness, with 39 rows, and just over 2300 syrah vines. This block is even steeper than the Lower, with a 18-20% grade.

The syrah vines were planted in February 2002, and our first harvest was in September 2004.

Through at least the harvest of 2008, we will sell nearly all the grapes to Robert Biale Vineyards.

Perched above the syrah, the top two rows contain Cabernet Sauvignon. There are 100 vines, lovingly planted in May 2002 by family and friends. While most of the syrah grapes are sold, all of the cabernet grapes remain here. We blend the cabernet with some syrah so we can internalize the whole grapes-to-glass cycle of winegrowing, sharpen our own winemaking skills, and provide us with wine-on-hand for sharing with visitors, fellow growers and winemakers, and friends.

In addition to the main harvest, we do three small "picks" to make our own wine:

• About 200 pounds of unripe grapes, recaptured during our green-thinning process, are transformed into verjus. Last year's 48 bottles of verjus proved invaluable to our culinary and bartending habits; we'll make a similar amount in 2008.
• 275 pounds of syrah will be picked in early September for a syrah rosé.
• A half ton of syrah and cabernet will be picked and crushed with friends to make another barrel of our own estate-made wine, The Odyssey.