Damiana Vineyard
Shallow top soils of fractured Lambert shale and mudstone limit vigor and lead to wines with great concentration and intensity.
Damiana Vineyard
“This was the first Vineyard we planted. It made sense because there were no oaks or big trees to clear. I think we may have had to cut down a couple of small Madrone, and that’s it. As it turned out, that is what sort of informed our planning for the whole twenty-eight acres. The vineyards are shaped like they are largely because it was easier to clear brush than to cut down a bunch of trees. And in those days we wouldn’t even think of hiring a crew to chip tree trunks. If we cut a tree down we sectioned it and split the logs ourselves for firewood. It may be that the grass and greasewood (brush) areas were less fertile, rockier soils that wouldn’t support much in the way of big trees, so we were doing ourselves a big favor, kind of unwittingly. Damiana Vineyard may have changed over the years, because building the pavilion and the big house above it changed the amount of wind it gets. It is more protected than it used to be, and it may get a little bit less afternoon sun. It gets a lot of morning sun, though, especially on the southeastern, downhill side. The vineyard definitely ripens at different times and needs a bunch of passes at harvest time. It probably makes the most conventionally “California” Chardonnay that we do, but it’s still VERY “Santa Cruz” and very “Thomas Fogarty”. It’s got that mineral and slightly maritime character but it can be a bit juicier and tropical than, say, Portola Springs…”
– Dr. Thomas Fogarty
Technical Notes
Year Planted: 1978
Elevation: Avg 1890 ft.
Size: 3.5 acres
Exposure: Southwest
Soils: Fractured shale over bedrock
Clone: Wente 4
Rootstock: AxR1
Vine Spacing: 6′ vines x 11′ rows
