In 2000, we took the first steps toward creating our wines—selecting and planting our vineyards. We chose St. James and its sister Poor Souls as our inaugural vineyards thanks to their particular soil types. Each vineyard demonstrates unique qualities—with St. James featuring deep Vina Loam soil, and Poor Souls consisting of Sandy Vina Loam with large pockets of river rocks. In addition to this wonderful soil diversity, the vineyard-variety combinations were chosen based on their ability to produce notably high quality wines in a climate as hot as Vina.

Prior to planting, we reviewed an intense study of successful viticultural areas in Spain, Italy, southern France, and Australia, balanced with a thoughtful investigation of growing trends in the world of wine. This led to our planting decisions. In St. James, we planted Syrah, Zinfandel, Tempranillo, Graciano, and Albariño. In Poor Souls, we planted Petite Sirah, Barbera, Trebbiano, Zinfandel, Viognier, and Muscat Blanc. Initially each vineyard spanned 3.5 acres, providing 7 acres of source fruit for the winery’s first harvest in 2003. With the early success of the Albariño and Viognier varieties, the St. James Vineyard was soon expanded to 5 acres.

Our commitment to finding the best varieties for our climate, our soils, and our customers continue. In 2006 we grafted some of the Zinfandel in order to expand our Tempranillo and Graciano grapes in the St. James Block and our Petite Sirah and Barbera in the Poor Souls Block. We expect our first harvest of these grapes in the summer of 2007. We are delighted with both of these vineyards and their grapes, and look forward to many more abundant harvests.