产区详情

Vineyards in Cole Ranch
©Esterlina Vineyards

Cole Ranch is an AVA tucked away among the hills just south of Ukiah in California's Mendocino County. At just 24 hectares (60 acres) it is the smallest officially designated wine region in the US, with all of the land belonging to just one winery – the Anderson Valley-based Esterlina Vineyards. Despite its size, Cole Ranch is highly regarded for its white wines made from Riesling, as well as reds produced from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir.

The Cole Ranch vineyards can be found in a small valley just three miles (5km) from where the Russian River cuts a path through Mendocino County before flowing south into the Russian River Valley AVA. At elevations of 1400 to 1600ft (427 to 488m), the vines benefit from a mesoclimate that is cooler and wetter than surrounding wine-producing areas. Indeed, the relatively high elevations ensure that the evenings are significantly colder in Cole Ranch, giving the grapes time to cool off overnight during the growing season and thereby preserving the grapes' vital acidity. The surrounding hills offer shade in the early morning and late afternoon, limiting the amount of sunlight that reaches the vines. These two factors slow the ripening period significantly, with harvest sometimes coming up to a month later than in the surrounding Mendocino AVA.

The climate here, while tricky, is much prized by Cole Ranch's vignerons. The grapes that are subject to this long growing season have a fresh streak of balanced acidity that distinguishes them from those of neighboring regions and, since the first harvest in 1975, producers from Napa Valley and Sonoma County have sought premium grapes from the Cole Ranch AVA.