Holdredge Pinot Noir Bucher Vineyard

The Place Bucher Vineyard is situated a few miles to the southwest of Healdsburg on Westside Road an extremely highly-regarded area for Pinot Noir in the Russian River Valley AVA. There are a small handful of vineyards with names synonymous for some of the finest pinots ever to come from Sonoma County. Bucher is on the north end of the appellation so it is slightly warmer although the hills to the west (the beginning of the coastal range) offer afternoon shade. There is little water and the story of the wines is told in the soils. We take three clones from three different blocks and they are all quite different. We take Pommard and Swan clones from blocks planted in Josephine soils which are some of the oldest soils around. They come from weathered sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Our other block is on a soil called Yorkville which is formed from weathered schist and other sedimentary rocks. Both soils are excellent for Pinot Noir. When I visit Bucher there is always