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Sonatera is planted to
four clones (subvarieties) of Pinot Noir with a long
heritage of producing great wines. Three of these clones
— 667, 777 and 115 — are Dijon clones sourced from
the ENTAV collection of classic Burgundian vines. The
fourth clone is Pommard 4 noted for bright aromatics
and intense flavors. This combination of Pinot Noir
clones creates fruit — and wine —with an extraordinary
breadth and depth.
The four scionwood clones are grafted primarily to
101-14 rootstock, with small areas of disturbed soil
(from old pine hedgerows) grafted to 3304 rootstock.
These two Phylloxera-resistant, low vigor rootstocks
are ideal matches for our Goldridge soils, and promote
the development of high quality fruit.
The vines are planted in rows spaced eight feet apart,
with five-foot spacing between vines. This equates
to 1,089 vines per acre, resulting in a total vine
count of just under 12,000. The vines are cane pruned,
and trellised on a vertical shoot positioning (VSP)
system using specially designed adjustable vine stakes
from Australia. Movable wires allow the leafy shoots
to be continually directed upwards during the growing
season. This plus selective leaf removal in the fruiting
zone provides optimum sun exposure to both the leaf
canopy and the fruit.
Fruit yields are typically around two tons per acre.
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