LAUGHLIN FAMILY VINEYARD, RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY

Emigrating from Ireland, the Laughlin family settled in this unique micro-climate of the Russian River Valley in the mid 1800’s. Four generations have watched over the land of the Laughlin Vineyard.

VINEYARD CHARACTERISTICS

The vineyard is low-lying - directly on a tributary of the Russian River - and experiences a great deal of cloud cover throughout the growing season. Grown on alluvial soils, these 35-year old vines are trellised with vertical shoot positioning on a bi-lateral cordon. We nurture these vines through cultural practices such as shoot positioning, leaf removal and fruit thinning, to bring the clusters an optimal balance of sun, shade, and air flow which allows them to properly develop and mature. Generally ripening in mid to late September, we receive approximately 2.5 tons to the acre.

NEW VINEYARD PLANTING

In 2006 L’Angevin acquired the balance of the vineyard blocks at the Laughlin Family Vineyard. This thirty-two acre vineyard was planted in the early 1970’s in an array of varietals. Working with the owner we evaluated the blocks and kept two blocks of Chardonnay and two blocks of Pinot Noir. After removing the other plantings, we amended and cultivated the soils, installed modern trellising and irrigation, and chose varietals that were in keeping with our Burgundian theme, best suited to the site.

CLONAL SELECTIONS

Our Pinot Noir clonal selections will feature “828” and a special DRC clone, along with smaller plantings of “777”, and the “Calera” and “Swan” clones. The Chardonnay plantings will feature selections of the “Old Wente” clone from the Hyde Vineyard, spiced up with a small planting of the aromatic French clone “809”. The rootstock was planted in 2007; the grafting was completed in the spring of 2008. We feel the combination of this great site in Russian River with assiduous and modern farming practices bode well for outstanding wines to be produced from these new blocks.