Larry Venturi’s family has tended vines on the benchland above Calpella for over 100 years. He is the archetypical old-timer in all the best ways; the kind of grower who plants head-trained and dry-farmed Grenache in 2017 and then farms it organically because that’s how he farms everything. This block is on the uppermost bench of his ranch, and the slightly higher elevation and farming techniques help limit these young vines of a vigorous variety to a moderate crop of intense concentration.

Our house style has always focused on maximizing intensity and expression of the grape’s structure then aging that intensity into elegance. Though Grenache is not an ample provider of structure, it makes for a dynamic partnership between grape and style that demands restraint and attentive winemaking. Which is, for us, super fun.