Crinella Wines
2006 Pinot Noir
Silver Medal
2006 Sauvignon Blanc
Double Gold Medal!
2005 Sauvignon Blanc
Gold Medal!
2005 Glissando
2 Gold Medals!
2004 Glissando
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Grapes of Truth
Farming the Two Vineyards of Crinella
Crinella Vineyards is governed by three small, yet powerful words: In vino veritas.
"I take that to mean the wine reveals the truth of the vineyard," says Ramona Crinella, CEO of her family's two small vineyards in the Russian River Valley.
"It's about carefully looking after the vines, nurturing the health of our soil and doing everything in our power to grow the very finest grapes.
Our award winning wine is the absolute truth of what we do in our vineyards."
While both the Crinella Estate Vineyard in Forestville and the family's
Marino Vineyard in Santa Rosa (located about 10 miles southeast of the estate), benefit from the Russian River Valley's
fog-cooled climate, the region is also characterized by its diversity of soils and microclimates. Before planting the estate's 20 acres of Pinot Noir (an additional 10 acres are scheduled for
planting in 2007) and the Marino Vineyard's 20 acres of Sauvignon Blanc, the Crinellas conducted extensive research and analysis of the climate and soils to determine the best varieties and
clones to plant in each site. Experts studied the soil horizons excavating down 20 feet, and temperatures were measured and mapped by satellite to determine the planting of vineyard blocks.
W chose to
plant Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir because they were ideally suited to the growing conditions of the two vineyards,
and because both varieties would produce great food wines in those sites.
For the estate vineyard,
Jim Pratt and his longtime team
(most of his vineyard crew has been with Cornerstone for more than a decade) started with the soil to establish
a plan for cultivating world-class wines. "Our goal was to get the maximum quality from each grape through careful clone selection, vine spacing, limited fruit production per vine and the
most effective vineyard
layout and design for optimizing the terroir," explains Pratt.
Canopy work is intensive in both the Estate and Marino Vineyards. "We're meticulous about vines with too much fruit," says Pratt.
"We take additional passes
on shoot positioning and leaf thinning, looking at pounds per vine and clusters per shoot rather than so many tons per acre." Thinning also helps to naturally control fungus,
bunch rot and mildew. Both vineyards
are vertically shoot positioned to receive maximum
indirect sunlight, which is especially important with Pinot Noir - a variety highly sensitive to burn and susceptible to disease pressure late in the season.
To cultivate expressive fruit that reveals the truth of the vineyard - or as Pratt says, "to let the vine be the vine" - Crinella farms its vineyards using sustainable methods.
"We are all fiercely committed to farming sustainably," says Ramona Crinella. "For us, this is the only way to farm." The vineyards of Crinella are currently undergoing the
assessment for sustainable
farming, created by the Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG).
At Crinella, the relationship between the winemaking and winegrowing teams is equally important to creating wines true to a place.
"Jim Pratt is one of the best vineyard managers around," asserts Ramona. "There are a lot of good growers who are strictly farming oriented, but Jim understands the winemaking side,
and that makes for a successful collaboration." The two work closely throughout the growing season, walking the vineyards and tasting grapes daily as harvest approaches. "We want to pinpoint that
magic moment for harvest. You can make a good wine on either side, but a great wine is harvested at that ideal time."
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