John does not understand French

No Frost Damage from April 8-9 Frost

No frost damage to the crop. Why? Nothing like investing in a 1.5 million gallon reservoir with a V-8 car engine to power the pumps the year preceding the frost.

Santa Barbara Independent Article on Hilliard Bruce

http://www.independent.com/news/2011/jan/15/luck-vines/

My drawing of a typical Pinot noir grape

Our grapes sacrificed their little round easily squished lives for these wines.

Our windblown site, morning fogs, cold temperatures, and intense sun: wines with intense Pinot noir and Chardonnay flavors. We have handled them carefully through the process of becoming wine to preserve their unique personalities of taste. Not every grape made it.

Hilliard Bruce Vineyards

Hilliard Bruce Vineyards facility in Santa Rita Hills AVA.

Our location in
Santa Rita Hills AVA

Our vineyard is just North of Highway 246, and West of Kessler Haak / Clos Pepe / Babcock / Melville.

2008 Hilliard Bruce Moon Pinot noir is released

Mailing List is Open

Hilliard Bruce 2008 Moon Pinot noir mailing list is open, so, if you are inclined, let us know of your interest at:

vineyard@impulse.net

Hilliard Bruce Pinot noir in Vertical, sequel to Sideways

2008 Hilliard Bruce Moon Pinot noir has threesome with Miles and Laura.

First Review of Hilliard Bruce Pinot noir 11/2010

First Review from International Wine Cellar November 2010:

2008 Hilliard Bruce Moon Pinot noir: Vivid ruby. A heady, seductively perfumed bouquet displays red and dark berries, potpourri and spicy oak, with notes of minerals and musky herbs adding complexity. Smooth, fleshy raspberry and cherry-cola flavors pick up an exotic Asian spice quality in the mid-palate and are very sharply defined. Fine-grained tannins add grip to the long, sappy, subtly smoky finish. Paul Lato is the consulting winemaker here.

Back vineyards contain Chardonnay and Pinot noir

We planted the back vineyards last, and included 4.5 acres of Calera Pinot noir, and a couple of acres of 828, plus Chardonnay 76 and 96.

Is it wrong to love a compost building?

Blower system injecting air under the compost building.

Compost Building

The new compost building is fundamental to our Certified Sustainable vineyard. Using the manure from 20 Arabian horses who live on the ranch, we create compost in 30 days without turning the pile using an automatic blower system piped under the building.

The entire compost requirements of the vineyard can be provided by the ranch.

New Reservoir Defeats Frost

Reservoir completed in July holds over one million cubic feet of water prevents Jack Frost from defeating our grape efforts. We can spray water over the entire 21 acres of vineyard raising the temperature above freezing for an unlimited amount of time.

New pump building

Pump building competed housing frost protection pump and drip irrigation pumps.

Planning havest

Inside the winery

Hilliard Bruce Pommard Block

The Pommard Block is finely tuned. Look at the shadow cast by the vine rows. Consistency is perfection for viticulture.

Extreme Viticulture

Powdery mildew does not trouble the manicured canopy in Moon Block of Hilliard Bruce Vineyards. 100% estate grown grapes means extreme viticulture. See it to believe it.

Hilliard Bruce Vineyards

Canopy management for wine grape quality begins with shoot thinning and keeping shoots vertical.