History
Lew Platt, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard who briefly ran Kendall-Jackson, bought the property with his wife Joan in 2001 and planted from 2003 with advice from David Ramey, Fred Scherrer, Eric Sussman, Ted Lemon and Carroll Kemp. Platt died in 2005, a year before the first harvest; Joan ran the vineyard until 2015, when Eric Flanagan's Russian River Partners acquired it, and in 2022 it passed to AXA Millesimes, the wine arm of the French insurer, which ended fruit sales to make a single estate wine with Thomas Rivers Brown, debuting with the 2023 vintage. In between, Ramey, Littorai, Radio-Coteau, Scherrer, Red Car, Rivers Marie and Flanagan built the vineyard's designation legend.
The Site
The vineyard rises from 425 to 800 feet on south-facing slopes less than six miles from the Pacific, overlooking Bodega. Fog presses in through the Estero lowlands almost daily over Goldridge fine sandy loam laid on the ancient seabed sandstone of the Wilson Grove formation; about 43 acres of vines are planted across 32 blocks, and ripening runs among the latest in the county at yields near a ton and a half per acre.
Vines and Blocks
Pinot Noir leads, historically about 17 acres in Dijon 115, 777, 828, Calera and Pommard selections, with 13 acres of Chardonnay in Wente material and a sliver of Riesling, farmed in small blocks following the folds of the hills.
The Wines
Platt bottlings are marked by the site's cold: piercing acidity, citrus-edged Chardonnay and red-fruited, savory Pinot Noir that needs patience, a style the new estate wine now carries alone.