BELLA LUNA VINEYARD

The Bella Luna Vineyard is superbly suited for growing world-class Pinot Noir. Our estate vineyard is situated on the Churchill Estate in the Russian River Valley, 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The cooling coastal influence, Sebastopol Sandy Loam soil composition, Dijon clone selections and sustainable, precision farming practices all work together to produce fruit with outstanding qualities.

The vineyard is planted on 4' x 4' spacing, similar to the farming practices in Burgundy, France, where Pinot Noir originated. The intimacy of the vines creates cooler temperatures in the vineyard and increases the quality of the fruit.  The small vines also produce small yields, giving the wine from this vineyard the deep rich, concentrated flavors our winemaker Anthony Austin needs to create award winning wines year after year.

FACTS

COOLER CLIMATE REGIONS

The Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast appellations are both located within 20 miles of the Pacific Ocean, creating unusual and providential climate characteristics that make the regions particularly ideal for growing world-class Pinot Noir.

Each evening, fog from the Pacific Ocean rolls in, swaddling the Russian River Valley in cool temperatures. The cooler climate allows the grapes to ripen slowly throughout an extended growing season. Longer "hang times" promote rich, ripe berry flavors and maintain the natural acids and soft tannins that are characteristic of all our wines.

With these benefits in mind, we selected our vineyards in part because they are located in the coolest regions of the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast appellations.

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES

As good stewards the land, our grape growers employ sustainable farming practices. They eliminate or reduce use of toxic chemicals and pesticides and use hand-farming methods and drip irrigation systems to conserve energy and water. To reduce waste, they compost organic materials from the vineyard and chip old vines instead of burning them, helping to reduce air pollution and CO₂ emissions. Finally, the growers enlist nature's help against fighting unwanted pests by building insectaries alongside the vineyard and creating homes for barn owls that control the gopher population.

PRECISION FARMING

Precision farming ensures that all grapes ripen evenly by incorporating specific techniques to improve individual grape quality and reduce the harvest yield. Unripe grapes cause wine to taste bitter, and overripe, raisin-like grapes make wine too sweet. The key to evenly ripened fruit is a well-maintained leaf canopy. Our growers manage the growth of vines by passing through the vineyard five or six times during the growing season to remove unwanted shoots and suckers, top the vines and drop fruit that is not ripening fast enough.