Vineyards

Georganne

— Estate Vineyard —

In spring 2006, Merry and her husband, Ken, met Georganne and Bob Proctor at the Proctors’ home on Westside Road. It is a lovely estate overlooking Dry Creek to the north and Russian River Valley to the south. They wanted to replace an old Chardonnay vineyard with Pinot Noir and needed advice on rootstock and clonal selections.

Sitting on their deck that first afternoon and sharing a glass of wine, Merry asked if they would be willing to lease the site. Georganne was thrilled. Development began immediately, with some 30 pits being dug to explore soil types. An unusual type of vine spacing was used to adjust for the differences in soil vigor. Rows were spaced 8 feet apart, but the distance between vines varied from 3 to 5 feet within the row. In addition, seven different irrigation blocks were installed to accommodate variations in soil drainage. Another innovation was to orient the rows at 20 degrees off magnetic north, to allow the leaf canopy to protect clusters from sunburn.

The Georganne Vineyard has lived up to all of Merry’s high expectations. The wines consistently show deep color and generous dark fruit, with a distinctive floral aroma and bold tannins.