Hawkes Wine & Winery

Hawkes Wine & Winery
6734 Highway 128
Healdsburg, California
USA 95448
Phone: (707) 433-4295
http://www.hawkeswine.com

Contact: Stephen Hawkes
Email: [email protected]

Our family has been growing grapes in the Alexander Valley for more than 30 years. Today we own and farm three vineyards, all planted on sparsely soiled hillsides, and all yielding small amounts of highly intense fruit. When we launched the Hawkes label, we aimed to translate our extraordinary standards for the quality of our grapes into extraordinary wines.

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THE PYRAMID

Our family has been growing grapes in the Alexander Valley for more than 30 years. Today we own and farm three vineyards, all planted on sparsely soiled hillsides, and all yielding small amounts of highly intense fruit. When we launched the Hawkes label, we aimed to translate our extraordinary standards for the quality of our grapes into extraordinary wines.

Our newest vineyard, planted on Chalk Hill Road in 1996, is named the Pyramid for the extremely sharp, often terraced hills on which it grows. The entire Pyramid Ranch is nearly 120 acres, only 18 acres of which are planted, all in Cabernet Sauvignon. By having chosen and developed this ranch for the sole purpose of producing Cabernet Sauvignon, and by limiting cultivation to such a small area, not only are we able to guarantee ideal conditions for farming, but are also able to leave the vast majority of the ranch as wild land.
In 1971, Stephen and Paula Hawkes moved to Sonoma County and bought 65 acres of land in the southern Alexander Valley, where they have been living and farming grapes ever since. The Home Ranch Vineyard, which is bordered to the north by a forest of Douglas Fir and oak, and to the south by a tributary of the Russian River, is planted in Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay.
The Home Ranch itself takes the shape of a small valley, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot planted in the thin chalky soils of its surrounding hills and Chardonnay growing in the slightly richer soils of the foothills below. As a result of this layout, the Cabernet and Merlot receive the benefit of greater exposure to the elements and exceptional drainage, while the Chardonnay often spends much of the day shrouded in the fog flowing off the Pacific Ocean and through the Russian River Valley.
The Home Ranch’s unique geography, together with minimal irrigation and a program of aggressive thinning in the Spring, ends with the red grapes in loose clusters of thick-skinned, densely flavored berries. This is particularly true of the Cabernet Sauvignon, where the upper hills often yield less than two tons to the acre. The Chardonnay, because of the extended cool it enjoys, is allowed to ripen slowly and late, developing a complex citrus character.

Winemaker: Stephen Hawkes

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