History
A New Zealand structural engineer developed the site from 1996. The first Pinot Noir went in during 1997, planting carried on through 1998 and 1999, and Littorai's parcel was put in expressly for that winery in 1998. Peter and Heidi Knez bought the vineyard in 2007 and added neighbouring Demuth the following year, farming both organically and biodynamically with Anthony Filiberti of Anthill Farms managing. Kosta Browne bought the whole Knez estate in 2016, some sixty vine acres plus three hundred acres of woodland, and released a 2016 Cerise Pinot Noir as its first wine from the property. Kosta Browne passed to Duckhorn in 2018 and to Butterfly Equity in December 2024, so the vineyard now sits inside a large portfolio as one of three estate sites alongside Treehouse and Bootlegger's Hill.
The Site
The vineyard lies on the eastern slope of the valley roughly sixteen miles from the ocean, and accounts of its aspect disagree because the property is not one hill: Kosta Browne describes the estate as west-facing and the Chardonnay ground, its coolest corner, as southwest, while Littorai calls its own parcel south-facing. Elevation is what the site trades on. Boonville sits at the warm end of Anderson Valley, but between 587 and 1,620 feet the vines sit in the fog layer rather than beneath it, and the diurnal swings are wide. The soils are shallow clay loam over shale and serpentine-derived rock with marine sandstone through them, changing hill by hill, and the slopes are steep and rocky throughout. Mapped vine acreage comes to roughly 26, while the figures near sixty that circulate describe Cerise and Demuth together.
Vines and Blocks
The vineyard grows Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, though the ground went in as Pinot Noir alone: selected vines were grafted over to Chardonnay in 2013, in the coolest section. The Pinot Noir runs a David Bruce selection out of Martin Ray material, Dijon 667 and 777, and two further proprietary selections. Littorai works three cascading hills between roughly 800 and 1,100 feet, which is the closest thing to an internal division anyone publishes, and no blocks carry public names. Yields are small, and Littorai reports a ten-year average of 1.63 tons per acre off thin topsoil, which leaves a high ratio of skin to juice.
The Wines
Kosta Browne bottles the vineyard as owner in both colours, taking the Chardonnay off the grafted block. Littorai has taken fruit since its parcel went in and farms it with organic materials and biodynamic methods without certification, Lioco has made a wine here, and Copain bottled the designate in earlier years. The Pinot Noir tends to be firm, cool-toned and structured, which is what the elevation buys on ground that at valley level would be too warm to give it.