History
Who put the first vines in the ground in 1971 is not recorded in any source that can be checked, which is itself telling for a site this old and this influential. What is documented is what the fruit did. Kenneth Volk made a 1983 Pinot Noir here for Wild Horse that gave that winery its early reputation, Lane Tanner was buying from the site by 1984 for the Hitching Post and her own label, and Au Bon Climat drew on it from its founding era. Robert Mondavi's company reshaped the farming in the early 1990s, in the years after it bought the neighbouring Byron winery, and Byron bottled a Sierra Madre Chardonnay through that period. Doug and Jan Circle bought the property in 2003, launched an estate label in 2006 and brought Lane Tanner back as winemaker in 2012. E. and J. Gallo bought it in May 2018, days after buying Rancho Real nearby, and the deal carried the Sierra Madre trademark along with the land. Gallo undertook to honour the supply contracts with the roughly thirty five wineries then buying fruit. Accounts differ on whether the Circles bought from Robert Mondavi or from his son Michael.
The Site
The property runs to 542 acres with about 151 under vine at the time of the 2018 sale, at roughly 215 feet, some fifteen miles from the Pacific. It is the northernmost and among the westernmost vineyards in the appellation, and because the Santa Maria Valley runs east to west rather than north to south, that means it stands directly in the path of the ocean air. The soils are Garey and Pleasanton sandy loams, marine in origin, low in organic matter and low in vigour over a cobbly clay subsoil, and the exposure is southerly. Published planted acreage has ranged from 151 to 173 across owners and decades.
Vines and Blocks
Chardonnay leads, with Pinot Noir behind it and small parcels of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris that are rare anywhere in the county. The Chardonnay is Wente material and clone 15, the Pinot Blanc is clone 159 and the Pinot Gris clone 152, while the Pinot Noir runs Dijon 115 and 667 with a Pommard 4 block long leased separately. Block 210 is the only internally named section that surfaces in the record. How much of the 1971 planting still stands is not documented block by block, so the heritage claim here rests on the continuity of the site rather than on verified vine age.
The Wines
Paul Lato's Le Souvenir Chardonnay is the most decorated of the current bottlings. CRU takes Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, and Flying Goat holds contracted acreage across the three white varieties. Behind them stands the longer roster that made the vineyard's name: Wild Horse, Lane Tanner, the Hitching Post, Au Bon Climat, Ken Brown and Byron. The wines carry the sand and the cold, running lean, saline and late.