Farmers First • Meticulous Authenticity• Naturally Precise Wines
Farmed and crafted by Husband-and-Wife team Paul and Kathryn Sloan -Small Vines Wines are 100% Estate Grown, exclusively from their unique high-density, organically and regeneratively farmed vineyards planted in the northern coastal regions of CA. Pioneering Vigneron, Paul Sloan innovated Grand-Cru, high-density growing methods from the Old-World and adapted them to California’s terroir and climate to achieve concentrated, fresh-picked flavors and beautifully balanced wines- naturally. With careful site selection, PhD level soil science and precise vineyard architecture-The Sloan’s balance physically small plants to use the vine’s own nature to dramatically reduce the yields, improve natural acidity and develop concentration. Paul and Kathryn’s Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays are prized for their purity, with intense aromatics, natural acidity and a distinct inner power at lower alcohol levels. To shepherd these wines of authenticity -they focus on fastidious farming and the essence of the vineyard, not supplemental cellar techniques.
TBH VINEYARD
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Terroir
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Our flagship vineyard planted in 2009 wraps around the winery and proprietor’s home at a modest 12.5 acres in both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. This historic property was farmed originally by the Barlow Family who homesteaded it before the turn of the last century. Reminiscent of the Grand Cru Vineyards of the Côte-d’Or and Côte de Nuits, TBH resides on a windy knoll top plateau, in a series of low elevation ridge lines. It has uniquely unprotected exposure from the southwest to coastal winds and fog. With the coldest nighttime temperatures of all our Estate sites TBH boasts crisp, age worthy acidity and a brightness that we so desire in our wines. The days are just warm enough to provide the richness, power and luxuriant tannins the TBH is known for.
Terroir
Our flagship vineyard planted in 2009 wraps around the winery and proprietor’s home and is a modest 12.5 acres. This historic property was farmed originally by The Barlow Family who homesteaded here before the turn of the last century, hence the acronym for The Barlow Homestead (TBH). The Sloans admired this unique property for many years until, after many offers and attempts, finally convinced the owner to sell the property to them.
Reminiscent of the Grand Cru Vineyards of the Côte-d’Or and Côte de Nuits, TBH resides on a windy knoll top plateau, in a series of low elevation ridge lines. Located in the Southern part of the Green Valley, it has uniquely unprotected exposure from the south west to the coastal winds and fog entering the open country via the Petaluma wind gap. This locale has the coldest nighttime temperatures of all of our vineyard sites which helps preserve crisp, lovely acidity and brightness that we so desire in our wines. The days warm up nicely, but not too warm, providing a nice long growing season allowing rich tannins to develop fully.
When developing our vineyards, we always work with the top PhDs in our industry for their consult on both soils and plants. When Soil scientist Alfred Cass, PhD saw the TBH Vineyard delicate, fine-grained soils- he stated he thought these were the best soils he had seen on our area. The soils of TBH Vineyard are very fine sand, on top of true bedrock sandstone at only 2 feet, providing a solid limiting factor to the vines. These true Goldridge soils allow superior drainage and because of the limiting bedrock, very low vigor potential. Working with PhD James Stamp we selected 420A rootstock for the very best match for the chemistry and vigor potential of the soils. This choice would give us a better ability to dry farm the vineyard due to the late dormancy of this rootstock.
Being that we had been growing winegrapes for over a decade when we planted TBH Vineyard, we had a respectable amount of experience in what clonal and field selections were doing well in our area. We had also developed some strong preferences for various wine grape selections for their flavor components. We chose 6 different, predominantly California Heritage selections of Pinot Noir, Calera, Swan, 943, Pommard, 459 and 828. Each bringing their unique personalities to both our TBH Vineyard designate as well as our Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and our Rosé.
Our 4-acre Block of Chardonnay creates both the energetic TBH Vineyard Chardonnay as well as our lovable Sonoma Coast chardonnay. Here, on the cooler, lower sloping part of the vineyard we chose both Hyde and Wente Chardonnay selections to craft complex and interesting wines. These Chardonnays dance on your palate, with vibrancy and distinction.
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BARANOFF VINEYARD
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Terroir
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The Baranoff Vineyard is typically the most muscular, tannic and concentrated wine we produce. We frequently refer to it as the handsome linebacker in our collection. Although we reference its innate power, it typically gets to this complex pinnacle of power at the lowest alcohols of the season. The iron rich soils bring the powerful tannins and sublime structure while the long warm growing season brings the richness and depth.
Terroir
Our Eastern most and warmest vineyard site, planted by us in 2001 rises up above the Laguna de Santa Rosa to about 220 feet. This 3-acre prized location used to be a vineyard almost 100 years ago but was ripped out during prohibition to be farmed as apples. During our development we found some old remnants of the historic rootstock still growing in this distinctive site.
Baranoff boasts the most significantly unique soils of all of our Estate Vineyards with deep reddish-brown color, iron rich with just a touch of clay. Our area is known for its greyish brown sandy loam soil, but occasionally you can find these infrequent ridgeline ribbons of rare bright red soil. Paul was elated to discover these bright soils, since he had remembered listening to Steven Kistler back in Paul’s days while working at Dutton Ranch, and Steve would specifically request grapes grown in these uncommon soils for his wines.
Baranoff’s gently eastern facing slope is on the last ridgeline before the Santa Rosa plains and the vineyard warms in the morning sun. On the warmest of days the water evaporating from the Laguna evaporates and condenses and can have a localized cooling fog effect. We chose to plant this vineyard with a broad array of types of Pinot Noir and have field selections of Calera, Swan, 459, 667, 777, 112 & 115. This is where we originally fell in love with what the Calera Selection could really be in our area.
The Baranoff Vineyard is typically the most muscular, tannic and concentrated wine we produce. We frequently refer to it as the handsome linebacker in our lineup. Although we reference its innate power, it typically gets to this complex pinnacle of power at the lowest alcohols of the season. The iron rich soils bring the powerful tannins and sublime structure while the long warm growing season brings the richness and depth.
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MK VINEYARD
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Terroir
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This location produces so little fruit that if we can get a mere one pound per vine, we consider ourselves lucky. The minuscule 50-60 cases a year we craft are always sold out upon release. We only wish we could make more of this beautiful wine! MK’s cool coastal days and moderately warm nights bring a fullness and velvety richness to the wine year after year. This Vineyard is surrounded by lush Redwood Forest, Oak Savannah and the wine tastes like the place that it is grown…luxurious earth.
Terroir
As the oldest Vineyard in our Estate Line-up, planted by us in 1999, the MK Vineyard was our very first Vineyard designate and has the most devout following from our mailing list. This beloved 1.3-acre crown jewel sits on a knoll top above the town of Occidental and holds a very special place in our hearts. We hoped from the very beginning, as one of our very first Vineyard developments ever, that someday we wanted to lease this very special spot back from the owners. Luckily for us, the landowners Mat and Ann Keller are some of the most wonderful people you could ever meet, and we are fortunate to still be working with them to this day.
This location produces so little fruit that if we can get a mere one pound per vine we consider ourselves lucky, and the minuscule 40-60 cases a year we craft are sold out upon release. We only wish we could make more of it! In the beginning of our Farming Careers, Dijon Clones were all the rage with winemakers in our area. We focused in on the Pinot varieties of 667, 114, 777 and 115 to plant here. These selections tend to ripen a little earlier and the MK Vineyard can be one of the earlier vineyards we harvest.
The MK Vineyard is the highest elevation Vineyard of the Single- Vineyard wines sitting at about 800 feet. Although technically closer to the coast than the other vineyards, it is planted in a protected “banana belt” and has more moderate diurnal temperature swings than the TBH and Baranoff Vineyards. These slightly cooler days and moderately warmer nights bring a fullness and velvety richness to the wines year after year. This Vineyard is surrounded by a lush Redwood Forest and an Oak Savannah and it tastes the like the place that it is grown smells, luxurious earth.
When we had our grand opening here at the new Winery in April of 2018, we did a 10-year vertical tasting of the MK Vineyard from the 2006 to the 2016 Vintage. It was amazing! Not only did the wines dazzle in the test of time, but each vintage uniquely expressed the differences of the weather in that farming season with the common thread of its unique location. The wines were all richly impressive, age worthy and expressively captivating.
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