Winemaker Notes
Picket Fence also reunites old friends, vineyard manager Pete Opatz and winemaker Don Van Staaveren, two wine legends who have crafted some of Sonoma County's most highly acclaimed wines. Pete brings intimate knowledge of the Russian River appellation and cultivates flavorful grapes that fully express the exceptional characteristics found in our Picket Fence vineyards. Don blends these grapes to reveal their true essence, creating luscious wines with the classic Russian River profile of richness and balance.
Created in small lots, Picket Fence Chardonnay and Pinot Noir celebrate our passion for the Russian River Valley and our sentiment that wine is a way of bringing family and friends together.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.