History
Drs. Stig Hansen and Jennifer Whistler established Whistler Vineyards in 2001 and planted the estate in 2003, expanding in 2015. Failla's Whistler Vineyard designates of the early 2010s carried the site to a collector audience, with Patz and Hall and Miura also buying fruit; today Hansen makes the estate wines himself with associate winemaker Niclas Dermutz.
The Site
The vineyard rides the fog line at 800 feet about four miles from the Pacific near Annapolis, on deep marine sandy loam running more than 150 feet down into sandstone. It is dry farmed on that depth, planted at 2,450 to 4,000 vines per acre, guyot-trained two feet off the ground, and farmed organically without certification. The family also farms the 29 acre Annapolis Ridge Vineyard nearby.
Vines and Blocks
Pinot Noir in Pommard 04 and 05, Dijon 115, 667 and 777 and Calera, plus Viognier from Condrieu clones.
The Wines
The estate range splits by clone: Corvus leads with Pommard, Picus with 115, Strix with 667 and 777, alongside the all-clone Estate Pinot Noir and a rare estate Viognier, wines of dry-farmed concentration and coastal nerve.