Ross Halleck
When we planted our Estate Pinot Noir Vineyard in 1993, our goals were not lofty.
There had never been a vineyard planted in western Sebastopol, all the way to the coast. We were the first, and we began without a clue what we were doing. We purchased the rootstock from the Yellow Pages.
We thought it would be beautiful, relatively inexpensive landscaping and we could make “backyard garage wine.” In the best of all worlds,…
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I was introduced Gewurztraminer in, of all places, Kenya in the 1970s. I lived in Kenya as a young man. It had been a British Colony just a decade earlier.
India had also been a British Colony, a relatively short hop across the Indian Ocean. As part of the British Empire, Indian businessmen were the “merchant class” in Kenya. They owned businesses, real estate and restaurants along-side their British and colonial counterparts.
I was first introduced to Indian food in Kenya.…
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European semi-sweet wines were the rage in the 1970s. Blue Nun, a German Liebfroumilch, was a fave. Mateus Rosé from Portugal was the most popular wine in the world.
At the same time, a new entrant, White Zinfandel wine, joined the ranks of American wines made by Sutter Home.
Sutter Home employed a winemaking technique called “saignée,” draining some of the free-run juice from Zinfandel to create a concentrated, robust Zinfandel. “Saignee” literally means “to bleed” in French.…
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The grapes for our Little Sister Sauvignon Blanc are sourced from “Patient Terrier” Vineyard named in homage to the faithful companion of its owner, Greg Conklin.
Rather than “Patient Terrier,” we chose to name the wine for a family story.
In 2002, we were judged #1 Pinot Noir in the United States for the first crop from Halleck Vineyard Estate, harvested in 2001. This gave us the street cred to make any wine we chose.…
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It feels like yesterday when we planted Halleck Vineyard. Jennifer was combing the Yellow Pages looking for rootstock, stumbling across a single-line listing for John Caldwell under “Nurseries.” This was amongst ads hawking all manner of services and products. Previous calls came up empty. There was a dearth of Pinot Noir rootstock available in 1991-92.
John answered the phone and spoke to Jennifer about our location and specific site. He was an enthusiast and guided us to some new Pinot Noir clones from Dijon,…
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We are privileged to partner with the finest chefs in the world. Thomas Keller of Per Se and The French Laundry, Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern, Cat Kora, and Michael Psilakis, to name a few.
We’re featuring dishes from many of our friends on a monthly basis with recipes and stories, like Austin Perkins, formerly of Nick’s Cove, a local favorite.
He grew up in our neighborhood enjoying the coast, its natural beauty and abundant farm produce.…
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Mike Anthony, the Executive Chef of Gramercy Tavern shares his recipe for ‘Arctic Char with New Potatoes, Apples and Endive’
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In February we turn our focus to Love. Exalted, extolled, and exploited, Love is an integral part of our lives, yet rarely explored. For example, saying, “I love you” for the first time is a huge threshold in any relationship; but we easily bandy the word about for preferences (I love popcorn), activities (I love to ski), bodily functions (I love a good sleep) in closing letters, or of Country.Valentine’s Day hails back to the Roman Empire and prior,…
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Jennifer and I planted Halleck Vineyard in the early 90s. Legend was created when our first vintage as a wine (2001 Tandem Winery, Halleck Vineyard, Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir) earned first place in the 2002 Pinot Noir Summit. This was also Greg Lafollette’s first vintage under his new personal label, Tandem. He had recently left Flowers, where he earned status as “Winemaker Rock Star.”
This competition set the stage for Greg to become our winemaker and mentor and Jennifer and I to build Halleck Vineyard as a winery and brand.…
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