Our Wine

The intense aromatics of delicate spice, peach blossom and key lime unwind to a tightly structured core of perfectly ripe yellow fruits and limestone.

Teeming with compelling minerality, this site-driven Chardonnay is intoxicatingly aromatic; fresh lemon verbena, quince paste, grapefruit and orchard blossoms with lively acidity. 

In our second vintage from this remote site along the cool Sonoma Coast, the 2017 Tidal Break Chardonnay offers aromas of freshly baked pears and grated ginger.  On the palate, this wine bears flavors of fresh lemon balm, dried white tea, and spring peas and are carried through with a resoundingly long finish.

Perched 600 feet above sea level, and 150 feet above the lower ‘En Bas’ parcel, the ‘En Haut’ parcel of the renowned Kiser vineyard continues to produce some of our most compelling and elegant Pinot Noir.  Located in the northern ‘Deep End’ of Anderson Valley, ‘En Haut’ is planted to the oldest soil profiles in the vineyard with 6 inches of top soil and base soils of decomposed, shale-like sandstone.  The wine showcases aromatics of rhubarb, clove and cherry cola.  The palate is nuanced and well balanced with clove and sandalwood in tandem Bing cherry and bright fruit tones.

Copain has produced Pinot Noir from this vineyard since 2003, so this wine should be familiar to long-time followers of Copain. From the lower parcel of the Kiser Vineyard in the “deep end” of Anderson Valley, this block is planted in Franciscan sandstone with clay topsoil. Planted entirely to clone 115, the ‘En Bas’ block continues to impress with notes of dried fig, Ranier cherry and cloves with undertones of bramble and hints of forest floor or as the French say, “sous bois’.

Nervy, yet lush, the 2016 Maggy Hawk's aromatics scream flavors of ripe blueberry, wet stones and dried herbs out of the glass.  On the palate, medium grit tannins gvie the wine backbone and play beautifully with the lush fruit. This wine should continue to improve over the next 3-5 years, but with a gentle decanting the wine is more than fit for drinking now.

Our inaugural release of the Abel Vineyard Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley, planted in the small town of Philo in the “deep end” of Anderson Valley, this young vineyard of Dijon clones has given us a wine that currently expresses tart raspberry, cherry, pennyroyal and orange zest on the nose. Young, yet fine grained tannins are interwoven with a youthful acidity. This wine presents a beautiful structure expressing elegant notes of cherry, pomegranate and clove with light delicate cola notes on the finish. Showing impressively in its youth, this wine is sure to become a favorite. 

Delicate and structured, with a broad, soft palate and light body. Evocative of the terroir-driven Syrah of the northern Rhône, this wine intrigues and enthralls with layers of exotic spice.

Profoundly aromatic with notes of blackberry, fig and California bay, the 2016 Hawks Butte offers an earthy blend of dark fruit, black olive and black pepper notes. Aged entirely in neutral French oak barrels, the Syrah’s varietal characteristics shine without the added weight of new wood flavors and barrel tannin. Whole cluster fermentation allows the wine to obtain additional tannic structure from the stems rather than that of oak barrels, resulting in an aromatically expressive wine with round tannins on the mid palate and a long, smooth finish.

Since 2005 when we first made Syrah from the Brosseau Vineyard, this wine has the uncanny ability to mirror some of the characteristics we enjoy in a Northern Rhone Syrah. Found in the famed Chalone AVA near the Pinnacles National Park, our southern-most vineyard source, the vines are planted in decomposed granite and limestone soils. Aromas of blueberry reduction and star anise are complemented by notes of blackberry and peppercorn with hints of California Bay leaf and graphite on the finish. The wine is brooding with a great structure and young tannins. It is drinkable now, with aerating or decanting, but will show its best with 4-5 years of cellaring. 

Since their planting in 2008, the vines from this Yorkville Highland site have matured beautifully and consistently produce one of our stand-out Syrah offerings. The nose has sanguine notes along with wet stone, dried cranberry and dried figs. These savory aromatics complement the graphite, lavender and blackberry flavors with hints of tobacco. The finish has firm, rustic tannins with nuances of black currant and camphor. 

Delicate and structured, with a broad, soft palate and light body. Evocative of the terroir-driven Syrah of the northern Rhône, this wine intrigues and enthralls with layers of exotic spice.

California Bay and dry sage aromatics accent the mineral graphite and dark red and black fruit flavors. The finish has firm, dusty tannins with nuances of forest floor and camphor.

Delicate and structured, with a broad, soft palate and light body. Evocative of the terroir-driven Syrah of the northern Rhône, this wine intrigues and enthralls with layers of exotic spice.