History
The Richardson family's Sonoma Coast holdings date to 1876 and grew to thousands of acres of timberland and miles of coastline near Annapolis and Stewarts Point; the family has operated the Stewarts Point General Store for over 120 years. The 25 acre vineyard was added in 2012 to supply coastal Pinot Noir to top-tier producers, with blocks planted in phases: Littorai's ground in 2015 and Alma Fria's, from budwood it supplied, in 2019. In 2016 the family worked with Save the Redwoods League to permanently protect the property's old growth, including a redwood some 1,640 years old.
The Site
A south-facing slope at roughly 750 to 800 feet, four and a half miles from the Pacific near Annapolis, on shallow, low-vigor ground of the Annapolis terraces: Goldridge loam over the Ohlson Ranch sandstone, with six to twelve inches of topsoil. The rows are grazed by sheep in place of mowers and farmed organically without certification.
Vines and Blocks
Pinot Noir throughout, in Swan, Mount Eden, Calera, 943, Jackson 16 and Dijon selections plus Littorai's own field selection.
The Wines
Littorai and Alma Fria, which calls Richardson Ranch its home vineyard, bottle the designation: cool, structured coastal Pinot Noir with maritime salinity, from a family that has watched this coast for a century and a half.