Because of its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, the Russian River Valley is greatly influenced by the coast. Fog rolls over the vineyards each evening, dropping the temperature by as much as 35 to 40 degrees. This natural air conditioning contributes to an extended growing season where the grapes are able to mature slowly and maintain a good level of natural acidity. Ananias Pinot Noir hails from the King Vineyard, located in Russian River’s Santa Rosa plain. Year after year, it consistently delivers richly concentrated fruit with amazing dark color and expressive flavors.

2016 resembled vintages of nearly a decade ago where a cold, rainy winter prepared the vines for good yields. This helped prolong the season, giving the vines extra hang time to accumulate flavor and phenolic development. Conditions were further optimized by staggered ripening, where each varietal reached maturity a week or two apart. This allowed us to devote more attention to each batch of fruit. After the grapes were pressed, the juice was placed into open-top fermenters and punched down several times a day for extraction.