Haarmeyer Riesling "Wirz" Reserve 2019

The Wirz vineyard was planted by Almaden in 1963, back when big wineries were still planting vines on their own roots and furrow irrigation. Miraculously, the vineyard remains intact, thanks to work of the Wirz family. They were hired by Almaden to farm it because they lived on the property. Almaden eventually sold the vineyard to Pat Wirz's father and Pat is the man who has been in charge for the past 45 years, farming it as his father once did with strict practices that honor the old tradition of caring for the land as well as the vines. The site is just east of the San Andreas Fault. This piece of land has a limestone base with decomposed granite overlaying. Although it sits at about 1,000 feet above sea level and gets some marine air, the days are frequently quite warm. The vines are head-trained, tiny bush vines spaced ten feet apart and the clusters range in size from golf ball to baseball. The yield is typically about one ton per acre. Foot-trodden after 2 days of skin contact and pressed into large puncheon for fermentation and aging.