Mancini Ranch / Russian River Valley / Dry-Farmed Field Blend

This 16 acre vineyard was planted between 1922 and 1924 by Luca Mancini on the corner of Olivet & Piner Roads (west of Santa Rosa), and consists of mostly Zinfandel vines, although it is interplanted with a mix of different mixed black and mixed white varieties.  Portions of the vineyard are planted to significant amounts of Carignane and a few different White Varieties which we pick separately.  Mancini Ranch is consistently one of the last Zinfandel vineyards in Sonoma County to be harvested due to its cool location in the Russian River Valley.  Walnuts, apples, pears, plums and oak trees sprinkled into the vineyard make this site especially unique.  

We took-over this fairly neglected site in 2015, and ambitiously began chopping back the overgrown black berries, poison oak, removing excess spurs, training-up new trunks, and rejuvenating the soil with compost.  In 2017 we replanted the missing vines with approximately 4000 St. George rootstock and grafted over a dozen different original and new varieties in 2018. We view this special property as a long-term project and it is our hope that the low yields (1 ton/acre) will improve with time, making the farming more economically sustainable.  

Original Varieties of Mancini Ranch (Planted 1922-24):

1. Zinfandel

2. Carignane

3. Valdiguié (Napa Gamay)

4. Abouriou (Early Burgundy)

5. Petite Sirah (Durif)

6. Negrette (Pinot St. George)

7. Cabernet Franc

8. Cinsault

9. Peloursin

10. Mission

11. Trousseau Noir (Bastardo)

12. Mourvedre (Mataro)

13. Blauer Portugeiser

14. Alicante Bouschet

15. Grand Noir (de la Calmette)

16. Muscadelle

17. Colombard

18. Palomino (Golden Chasselas aka "Shasta")

19. Elbling

20. Burger (Monbadon)

21. Semillon

The Old Vines of the Piner and Olivet Neighborhood: