“To make a great wine, you need mountain fruit. Anyone can make a concentrated and extracted wine, but for depth of flavor, balance and the right elegant tannic structure, you need great mountain fruit.”
Craig Becker, winemaker
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Armstrong Ranch: Vineyards and the Estate
The estate consists of 91 acres in the mountains above Calistoga, and 13 acres are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon. The 110R rootstock was planted in 1984 and it was grafted over to Clone 6 (original Tchelistcheff cuttings) in 1985 and 1986. The elevation of the vineyard varies from 850 to 1200 feet, and it has several facings, which produce five different microclimates. Because of this , harvesting must be done over several days. The thin volcanic soils are rock strewn and laden with the black volcanic glass. Because of these very thin soils, the vines have to struggle to survive, and produce less than two tons to the acre, about half of what valley floor vineyards produce. As a result the berries are very small and intensely flavored.