A visit to Head High and Three Sticks vineyards, Sonoma, CA (video)
Last month, I was in the States and visited Head High and Three Sticks vineyards in Sonoma, CA while I was there.
Chris Mattson, Jennifer Abram and Britt Richards (Head High winemaker ) from Head High/Three Sticks vineyards were kind enough to take a morning and show me around some of their vineyards.
We started at Durrell Vineyard. There, they have some old vine Zinfandel, only a few rows but enough to make a few barrels. We sampled the wines out of the back of Jenn’s SUV but somehow just made it all that much more enjoyable. We tried the Head High pinot noir and chardonnay as well as the zinfandel and the Three Sticks Durrell Vineyard wines. What I liked about all of them was that they were well balanced with pure fruit, good acidity and long finishes.
We also visited One Sky vineyards which, at 2300 feet,makes them the highest vineyards in Sonoma. Here we sampled the Chardonnay from those vines, again, well made and a delight to drink in the California sunshine.
After One Sky, we drove to Gap’s Crown is in the Petaluma Gap which has the cooling marine layer coming in through the gap, allowing for a longer ripening season. The vines are above the fog line which gives it great sun exposure. We tasted the pinot noir and chardonnay. These had a bit more salinity and minerality to them, excellent wines.
All in all a great visit and if you want to find out more about the Head High or Three Sticks wines, they are available in the UK from The Wine Treasury who supply fine dining establishments and wine merchants.