History
Jose Maria Soberanes came into California in 1769 as a teenager with the Portola expedition. His son Feliciano bought 8,900 acres from the governor in 1845, paying in horses, cattle, oxen and sheep, in the grant recorded as Rancho Ex-Mission Soledad. The land is still held by fifth generation Soberanes descendants, who chose the Pisoni and Franscioni families to farm it. Planting is dated 2008 by the vineyard's own site and by ROAR, though the Pisoni family's blog says 2006 and Wine Spectator has said 2007; 2008 is the best supported. It was the second joint venture between the two families after Garys', and a third, WindRock, has since followed in the same stretch of the bench.
The Site
Roughly 37 acres on an eastward-facing alluvial terrace between about 200 and 410 feet, falling five degrees to the valley floor. The soil is Arroyo Seco sandy loam, rockier than the neighbouring sites, with granite and sub-soil boulders worked through the alluvial fan, and the stones are part of the point: they stress the vines further. A dry creek cuts the property into three parcels. The upper section is dotted with oaks, the middle section is the piece that runs up against Garys', and the lower block is rocky ground on a rolling hill.
Vines and Blocks
About 27 acres of Pinot Noir, seven of Chardonnay and three of Syrah. The planting was designed as a deliberate counterpoint to Garys' next door: rows set true north to south rather than ten degrees west of north, and spaced six feet apart rather than eight, to force the vines to compete for water and drive roots deeper. The Pinot Noir is mostly the Pisoni selection with a section of clone 667, the Chardonnay runs old Wente strains along with Monty and Hyde material, and the Syrah is Alban. The three creek-divided parcels are farmed separately but carry no formal block names.
The Wines
ROAR and Lucia lead, and the roster behind them is long for a vineyard this young: Testarossa, Siduri, Twomey since 2012, Bernardus and Red Stitch, with Carlisle taking the Syrah and Patz and Hall leasing a block of Chardonnay. Kosta Browne folds it into the appellation blend rather than bottling it alone. Wine Spectator named Soberanes among California's greatest Chardonnay vineyards in 2023, which for a site planted in 2008 is a fast ascent.