San Juan Vineyard

The San Juan Vineyard is located about 14 miles to the east from EOS estate, at about 1100 feet of elevation, and about 45 miles as the crow flies from the Pacific Ocean. It is farmed by the Filliponi family, whom are partners in the Santa Margarita Ranch, as well as the Ancient Peaks wine brand. They have been farming cattle and crops in the area for several generations. Doug Filliponi has built up a successful well-drilling company with a partner over the past decades – water is a prerequisite for any kind of agriculture in this part of California where it only rains 20” a year, concentrated entirely between November and April. His son, Jeff, is the vineyard manager (and quite a successful Team Roper in rodeo around the west as well.)

This vineyard is essentially laid out on the riverbench above the San Juan Creek, with a ford that cuts straight through the dry riverbed most of the year, unless it is raining. Deer and wild boar dig into the creekbed to find the mud and water that runs a foot or so beneath the surface – it is salty water that doesn’t support much in the way of vegetation in most places, but the animals make use of it in a pinch.

We are purchasing Muscat Blanc (Canelli) as well as Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel from the vines growing here. Some parts of the vineyard are 35 years old or older, with trunks that are thicker than my thighs! The vines look fairly good this year, though they suffered from some cold weather events earlier this springtime, and as a result there is a lot of unevenness in how the fruit is ripening – this is not as much of a challenge in the Muscat as it will be in the Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel. At the moment, the Sauvignon Blanc still needs a few weeks to move through the green tomatillo / bell pepper flavors and develop some ripe melon and floral tones that will be a solid base to build on. The Zin is still completing Veraison (the phase where the berries turn red and start to soften and ripen.) The Muscat is perhaps a week or two away as well.

Here is a link to more harvest photos - we will keep adding to it every week as we go.