Pickberry Vineyard

Pickberry is a 30 acre vineyard on the northeast slope of Sonoma Mountain near Glen Ellen, California.  The site is a rolling hillside plot on volcanic soil.  The climate is cool with warm days and cool nights.

At Pickberry we grow Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot.  Since 1986 Ravenswood Winery has annually produced an award winning wine from our fruit.  Since 2012, they have been joined by a superb group of wine makers working with our fruit. 

The vineyard is owned and operated by the Strotz family.  Ned Hill is the viticultural consultant and the vineyard manager.  Salvador Garcia is the onsite foreman.

Climate

Pickberry is exposed to cooling afternoon coastal wind.  While the days can be warm, it is rarely as hot as Sonoma Valley, and nights are usually cool and often foggy.  The result is late ripening fruit which benefits from a long growing season with the development of intense flavors and rich, deep colors.  The hillside location protects the vineyard from most spring frosts and encourages summer cooling.

Soil

The volcanic soil at Pickberry changes dramatically from one location to another in the vineyard.  Some blocks have deep red soil, others are shallow grey clay, some are clay loam and one is so full of rocks it is nick-named the ”Rock Garden”.  The result is that we have divided the vineyard into a number of small blocks with unique soil types and specific varieties of grapes.  The blocks tend to ripen at different times, with harvest often spread out over 6 or 7 weeks.