Each year David begins in the vineyard. Engaged in viticulture and hands-on farming, he commits himself to the vines throughout the growing season, doing labor-intensive management such as shoot positioning to insure proper fruit exposure, rigorous crop thinning, precise irrigation and timely harvest. “I focus on preserving the flavors born in the vineyard,” said David. “I spend more and more of my time walking the vine rows — measuring, evaluating, tasting and planning the future of each individual lot.”
In the winery, Dave chooses techniques to produce balanced, “fruit and spice based” wines with the structure and depth to age gracefully. His objective is to enhance, but not overshadow, the qualities of the grapes. “Each vineyard has its own personality, and I bring that to light.” Dave’s winemaking techniques vary on a lot-by-lot basis. Dave cold soaks the pinot noir, chilling the must prior to inoculation. They favor gentle handling, direct barreling after fermentation and racking the wines once to separate out the gross lees. Drawing from his favorite coopers, frames the fruit character with complementary French oak barrels. Each year they purchases a large percentage of new French cooperage, replacing his barrels after two vintages. Both of these new releases are filtered using a cross flow filter system which he believes enhances the mouth feel of the wine.