van der Kamp Vineyard – Heritage Block

Location Notes: This 25-acre vineyard lies on a north-facing bench of Sonoma Mountain.

Historical Producers: Sebastiani Winery bought most of this fruit in the 1950s and earlier, I believe.

Characteristics: Ripe red fruits and juicy plum characteristics with a masculine backbone of spicy mountain tannins, lending the grapes an overall earthy forest floor aroma

Description: This site has always held cultural and religious significance to the native people of the area. A Pomo creation myth cited Sonoma Mountain as the birthplace of man, much like the Garden of Eden. There are many freshwater springs on this particular bench of the mountain, which we are told brought various neighboring tribes and communities to this site as a neutral trading area. Many native artifacts have been found here and still appear to this day. In more recent history, it has been continuously farmed as a family vineyard for the past 100 years. It has always been a small family business, with the family living onsite and farming many diverse crops and animals in addition to the vineyard and with a continued close spiritual connection to the land.

The vineyard was originally planted in the early 1920s to Palomino, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Most of the vineyard has been replanted to all Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, except for a contiguous 1.8-acre block of original Pinot Noir that was planted in the early 1950s. We refer to it as “the old vines” or “the heritage block”.

Facts: The old vine Pinot Noir is planted on St George rootstock in Spreckels loam soil.