THE WINES OF KARAH ESTATE

The Petaluma Gap, which became a designated American Viticultural Area (AVA) on December 7th, 2017, is one of the best regions in the word for producing high quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. While Syrah and a few other varietals have shown some promise here, we have chosen to focus on mostly Burgundian varietals.

The Petaluma Gap is an AVA based on wind patterns, as opposed to terroir. Each morning we experience heavy fog that smothers our hill. This lifts around 11am, warm sunshine breaks through, and in the late afternoon we endure high-speed winds, followed by thick evening fog. The wind tunnel runs from Bodega Bay, sweeping across Karah Estate Vineyard and ends at the San Pablo Bay. 

These wind and fog patterns create long, slow, and cool growing seasons, perfect conditions for growing our Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Chenin Blanc vines. The wind has a heavy effect especially on the Pinot grapes; heavy winds force the Pinot berries to develop thick skins. Thick skins have a high concentration of phenols, including anthocyanins, which give rise to bold spicy flavor profiles and deep color extraction.

In the cellar, we explore various winemaking techniques to best exhibit the high-quality fruit our vineyard produces. We are very minimal in terms of intervention, allowing each vintage to tell its own story. We introduce all of our senses – sight, taste, touch, smell, and hearing – coupled with chemical laboratory analyses to bring about the best product.