History
Profoundly influenced by the vintners and vineyards of Burgundy, Emeritus Vineyards planted Hallberg Ranch in 1999 with the goal of creating a diverse tapestry of estate grown Pinot Noir fruit from which to blend. The vineyard was switched over to dry farming in 2007, committing Emeritus to a unique path that would further cement their vision of making terroir-driven wines. Dry farming is an uncommon practice in California, but Hallberg Ranch has a deposit of clay loam underneath its Goldridge soil that allows the vines to dig deep for the water stored in the clay. That same year, Emeritus acquired a smaller estate property named Pinot Hill, nestled in the Sebastopol Hills just eight miles from Hallberg Ranch, with a similar soil profile. Today Emeritus Vineyards still consists of these two estate properties, which combine to give Emeritus almost 150 acres of Pinot Noir. This makes Emeritus the largest dry farmed Pinot Noir estate in Sonoma County, and possibly in all of California.
Specialties
Setting the standard for Russian River Valley estate bottled Pinot Noir.