Geography leaves its mark on everything. Whether you're from the East Coast or the west coast is something people around you will always recognize. It's an innate sense of place for people and a huge underlying contributor to identity. Wine is no different, and as Jonathan and Susan Lachs of Cedarville Vineyard would say, "(wine is) a window into the soil." To achieve this authentic quality to Cedarville wines special attention is taken in the vineyard.
The business plan was simple, have just enough for two to maintain. In 1995 Cedarville Vineyard was born as the eighth winery in Fair Play. Slowly taking their time to plant and raise 15 acres of grapes, there were no short cuts. They waited to produce only 100% estate wines and will continue to do just that. They carefully prune, manage leaf canopy, occasionally dry farming, and harvesting at maturity to ensure certain purity in the end product.
You may ask yourself," Doesn't everybody do this?" Yes, every grape grower does do this, and it is not the glamorous part of the job. Tying and pruning vines with a hyper focused attention of a Zen Master trimming a bonsai tree. They hire a team of experienced pruners and work alongside them to ensure the work is done correctly over their 15-acre vineyard. It's when I first spoke with Jonathan and Susan and saw the wide-eyed enthusiasm they shared for this work and their nurturing attitude toward their vines; these people are passionate and exacting about their wine.
Certain measures can be taken at harvest and during the fermentation process to manipulate a wine's character and outcome. Wine makers in California most certainly try to emulate popular market trends. None of those tricks are employed at Cedarville, and never will be. Jonathan admits that their unwillingness to make their wines like other popular producers may have been compromising at first, but it is how they're helping to put Fair Play on the world stage of great wine regions. The work is done in the vineyard and the rest is simply fate. The outcome is a purity that establishes a definite sense of place from any of the neighboring regions in the Sierra. The 100% decomposed granite soils and 2,500 foot elevation are reflected by their wine in a way that cannot be duplicated outside of Fair Play. Cannot be duplicated in the same sense as a good Bordeaux can only come from Bordeaux.
You can
taste in their wines how they've nurtured each vine according to its
personality. Their Syrah, for instance, is
supple with dark berries and round feminine tannins, while their Zinfandel is
bold and robust with vibrant raspberries and peppery spice - which tickles the
palate. But don't take my word for it, go see for yourself. Click
this Link to their info, the Tasting room is By Appointment Only.