Fenaughty Vineyard, Apple Hill District, Placerville

Ron Mansfield managed a few vineyards at the time I first met him, back in 1988, but a lot of his efforts went into orchards, where some mouth-watering cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines, pears, and apples were being grown. At the end of our tour of the County, that first day we met, he showed me the vineyard he'd planted on a ranch he managed for a Mr. Fenaughty, where he'd put in, on a slope facing north by slightly west, a few rows each, of a number of different grape varieties, to try to determine which ones might do well there. There was Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat, Gewurztraminer, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc. Oh, and yes, there was a bit of Syrah, which he offered to sell me (almost half a ton was what he expected that year), and if I liked the wine it made, and was interested in more of it, he'd be willing to graft the rest of the rows over to Syrah for me the next year. It sounded like exactly the right idea to me, and I accepted the offer, feeling like I was on the right track. 1988 wasn't the greatest vintage California ever had, but Ron's grapes made lovely wine that year -- compelling enough so that I quickly asked him to go ahead and graft over the vineyard.

Like Durell Vineyard, Fenaughty Vineyard is a work-in-progress. Besides the vineyard block mentioned already, in which nearly all the vines were grafted in 1989, there's also a block just to the west that was grafted in 1990. And in 1999, Ron planted some acreage to the northeast, on ground that had previously been in pears, to Syrah. The soil at Fenaughty is volcanic, in origin, a series known as Aiken Loam; it's very red in color, sandy in texture, with a good deal of rock mixed in. The exposure in the new blocks features a slight incline to the north. The elevation is roughly 2800'.

Syrah from Fenaughty has typically been of fairly dark coloration, aromatically very high-toned and spicy, supple and lively on the palate, graceful and nervy throughout.