Rockledge Vineyards

Rockledge Vineyards
360 Taplin Rd
St. Helena, California
USA 94574
Phone: (707) 963-5488
http://www.rockledgevineyards.com/content/index.html?CFID=1096275&CFTOKEN=84655781

Contact: Peter Snowden
Email: [email protected]

So in 1988, when a 42 acre untouched hillside parcel adjacent to Joe Phelps' vineyard became available, my cousin Scott Snowden knew just who to call. Two Southern California die hard beach lovers' lives were about to change.

As sheets of rain crossed the valley from the west, we arrived at the top of the hill for the first time and from that moment forward we knew that our journey was on. We have learned the hard way how to be farmers, respecters of nature, and winegrowers. Although we would not recommend our journey as a business plan; we have loved our daily "opportunities." We've met fine people who have shared their wisdom and expertise with us and as a happy result, we have this beautiful wine to share.
In 1999 we moved full time to the vineyard where we built our home. By that time, we had five harvests under our belt and thought it was time to launch Rockledge wines. The upcoming 2009 harvest will be our eleventh vintage! Each year we are fascinated by the secrets our land chooses to reveal to us. With the release of the 2004 vintage, we entered into an exciting new winemaking chapter with the addition of talented winemaker, Mike Hirby to our team. The Rockledge vineyard is perched at the very top of a hillside bench above St. Helena on the Eastern side of the Napa Valley. The extremely rocky soil is the striking feature of our vineyard and responsible for the stress that yields the small berries that we love so much for the concentrated wines they produce. We have named our flagship Cabernet Sauvignon "THE ROCKS" as a testament to these precious rocks and the effect they have on our wines. We are also blessed with a uniform soil depth of approximately three feet, an average 14% slope, slopes which average 14%, good drainage and a southwest exposure. We have a great view of the valley floor below and plenty of sunlight to optimize the ripening of our fruit.
We have four combinations of rootstocks and clones on the hill as follows:
3309, Clone 7 was planted in 1993. The block ripens in the middle of the other blocks. Characteristics include Blackberry and Chocolate with spice. This block is a large component of THE ROCKS.
110-R, Clone 7 was planted in 1997 with 4.5 x 10 spacing. This block provides high aromas and spice, cedar, pencil shavings. We like to pick this block later to enhance the aromatics.
5C, Clone 7 also planted in 1997. This block ripens first and boasts fruity aromatics.
110-R, Clone 337 was planted in 2004. We used this combination for two different locations on the estate. These young vines were planted on the terraces at the top of the vineyard and just below the house at the bottom of the vineyard. These vines haven’t been allowed to bring forth a crop yet.

Winemaker: Mike Hirby

Update Winery information  Submit new wines to be posted  Wineries of America