History
Kraemer had consulted for Swanson, Shafer, Cain and Domaine Chandon before she went looking for a property of her own. She located the land above Sutter Creek in 2001 and began planting in 2003, expanding again in 2009. The family keeps about a fifth of the fruit for its own label, Yorba Wines, and sells the rest, which is why a vineyard in Amador County appears on so many labels made elsewhere.
The Site
Around forty-six planted acres by the estate's own count, on rocky, well-drained volcanic-derived soils in the hills of Amador County, inside the Sierra Foothills. Edmunds St. John gives the figure as forty-two, so the number is best treated as approximate. The ranch is farmed in dozens of small blocks matched to slope and aspect rather than as uniform rows.
Vines and Blocks
Rhone and Iberian reds lead: Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Tempranillo and Graciano, with Zinfandel, Barbera and Petite Sirah alongside them. A small block of the Italian white Greco is bottled by Yorba as Greco di Oro, since Greco di Tufo is a protected Italian name and describes where the grape comes from rather than what this wine can be called.
The Wines
Yorba is the estate label. Favia, Keplinger, Forlorn Hope, Gallica, A Tribute to Grace, Dirty & Rowdy and Edmunds St. John all buy here. The clearest measure of the ranch's standing is that wines from its fruit have held eleven concurrent placements on The French Laundry's list.