The Vineyard

We began our vineyard in 2000 when we took possession of an 80 year old Italian plum orchard. We were attracted to the site because of its elevation (300-400'), its soil types (Nekia and Jory) and its east facing slope. The first year was one of preparing the orchard for its transition to a vineyard. St. Joseph Vineyard Management consulted, guided and implemented this plan. The vineyard was planted in January 2001 in three different clones, 777, 114, and 115.   The vines are planted on 7' row centers and one metre spacing along the row.  We call the vineyard Hidden Rocks Estate because of the volume of volcanic basalt that was uncovered during the site preparation.  Enough rock showed up to build a large retaining wall, the rock gardens of several friends, and some rock work on the site. There are still large piles of rocks scattered around the vineyard.