Pellet Estate

All our Chardonnay is sourced from the Sunchase Vineyard located in the Petaluma Gap AVA. The vineyard is perched high above the fog on the Sonoma Coast at an elevation of between 900-1,400', where the Petaluma Wind Gap collides with Sonoma Mountain just over the Napa County border. The cool ocean breezes & moderate sunshine, paired with fractured rocky clay soil consistently produces distinguished Chardonnay. Sun Chase is a state-of-the-art, high density vineyard developed in 2007 situated on the southern side of Sonoma Mountain, an area heavily influenced by cool ocean breezes. There are 24 acres planted to Pinot Noir, with four different clones of grapes, and 18 acres of Chardonnay. These two varietals excel in this region and the quality of fruit is an excellent demonstration of what this vineyard produces. This classically barrel fermented wine is produced from the Sunchase Vineyard, perched high above the fog at an elevation of between 900-1,400', where the Petaluma Wind Gap collides with Sonoma Mountain just over the Napa County border. The cool ocean breezes & moderate sunshine, paired with fractured rocky clay soil consistently produces distinguished Chardonnay. This wine is 100% barrel fermented and aged, full of fruit, and will age for up to 10 years.

Each year we almost always have free run juice (Saignée) from our Cabernet Sauvignon. We bleed off this juice to concentrate the flavors and increase the skin to juice ratio for our Cabernet, and use this juice to create a rarer form of Rose made entirely from Cabernet Sauvignon. Single fermented in stainless steel, this is a fun styled wine, ideal for warm weather best served chilled, and pairs wonderfully at BBQs, but most of all with friends.

Our Reserve wine is unique every year. We let each season, each barrel, each varietal guide us in crafting this rare blend. Our approach differentiates from what most people expect from a Reserve wine – rather than the best lots of a single varietal or extra care for designated barrels – ours is driven by what nature and vinification techniques result from each year. We exist to make great wine, therefore all of our lots are made with the utmost quality at our disposal – we treat every drop the same. It’s the standout barrels and varietals that rise above all expectations each year, from which we select pay close attention to, when blending the reserve program, only yielding about a single barrel or two. This is Henry’s Reserve – the constant pursuit of the most authentic expression, each year, from what fruit this historic vineyard provides us. It never will be, nor is meant to be, the same.

All our Chardonnay is sourced from the Sunchase Vineyard located in the Petaluma Gap AVA. The vineyard is perched high above the fog on the Sonoma Coast at an elevation of between 900-1,400', where the Petaluma Wind Gap collides with Sonoma Mountain just over the Napa County border. The cool ocean breezes & moderate sunshine, paired with fractured rocky clay soil consistently produces distinguished Chardonnay. Sun Chase is a state-of-the-art, high density vineyard developed in 2007 situated on the southern side of Sonoma Mountain, an area heavily influenced by cool ocean breezes. There are 24 acres planted to Pinot Noir, with four different clones of grapes, and 18 acres of Chardonnay. These two varietals excel in this region and the quality of fruit is an excellent demonstration of what this vineyard produces. This delightful wine is produced from the Sunchase Vineyard, perched high above the fog at an elevation of between 900-1,400', where the Petaluma Wind Gap collides with Sonoma Mountain just over the Napa County border. The cool ocean breezes & moderate sunshine, paired with fractured rocky clay soil consistently produces distinguished Chardonnay. This wine is crisp and full of fruit, and is aged about 8 months in stainless steel.

The Pellet Vineyard's origin begins in 1863 with the purchase of 45 acres of land in the Southwest corner of St. Helena that was filled with Manzanita brush Pellet cleared and planted to 38 acres of vines. During the 1870's, Pellet expanded to a wine cellar under the name of Pellet & Carver, with an on-site capacity of 80,000 gallons that was partially underground. Throughout the following decades, the vineyard continued to produce quality crops over various ownership changes, and after our purchase in 2005, we replanted the vineyard with improved row spacing and better vine orientation to the sun's path over the valley. Today the vineyard produces about equal amounts of Clone 4 and Clone 337 Cabernet Sauvignon, and small amounts of Merlot and Petit Verdot. Our soil is bale gravelly/rocky loam, on an alluvial fan at the base of the western foothills, planted in 7 foot rows with 4 foot vine spacing, using modified vertical shoot trellising. Our flagship wine is the genesis of what most great undertakings are – passion, and commitment to excellence. As in Bordeaux, our wine is crafted by blending Cabernet Sauvignon with our other classic Bordeaux varietals, Merlot and Petit Verdot. This wine is aged about 20 months in 75 percent new French oak, with further aging in the bottle before release. Produced exclusively from the Pellet Vineyard, our wine can be enjoyed today, and has the ability to age for decades.