Davis Bynum’s passion is in the land — the unique characteristics that each acre brings to the winemaking table. Our fascination with the individual qualities every vineyard holds led us to create Russian River Valley wines that highlight the special terroir that makes Davis Bynum so legendary.
Today our winemaker sources from distinct vineyard sites across the Russian River Valley to create our Russian River Valley Pinot Noir and single vineyard Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Davis Bynum Pinot Noir blends the characteristics that highlight the distinct terroir that makes our wines so legendary. For our Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, we use grapes from the warmer Santa Rosa Plains with its clay-rich soils underlain by volcanic ash; the warm Middle Reach neighborhood with low pH soil; the much cooler Green Valley with lauded Goldridge sandy loam soils.
JANE’S VINEYARD, located in the Santa Rosa Plains neighborhood, is made up of the adjacent Lindley’s, Crinella and Garfield block – 132 acres of Pinot Noir with nine different clones. Terrain is nearly level, though undulating and hummocky, with moderately well-drained Huichica soils consisting of acidic cobbled loam underlain by a clay subsoil, and a strongly cemented hardpan that varies from 12 to 26 inches down.
Our single vineyard Sauvignon Blanc comes from one 5-acre block in Jane’s Vineyard; a great patch of ground for producing distinctive Sauvignon Blanc that we called Virginia’s Block, as a tribute to Davis Bynum’s wife. This block has stony and clay based soils made of shallow, fast draining Huichica loam. This small area tends to enjoy the very best of the iconic local climate; never too hot during the day, and consistently chilly at night.
RIVER WEST VINEYARD is located in the Middle Reach neighborhood of Russian River Valley and this vineyard is home to 87 acres of Chardonnay in total, consisting of six different clones on two types of soil. The terrain is gently sloping, with well-drained Yolo sandy loam soils interspersed with very gravelly Cortina soils. The subsoil is deep alluvial gravels extending down several feet. These deep gravels have little fertility.
Our single vineyard Chardonnay is a true demonstration of letting the land speak, as we choose the very best vineyard sites that yield fruit that distinctly expresses the characteristics of their location. Our winemaker’s signature is embedded in each vintage as he blends his favorite blocks and clones from our River West Vineyard.
