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Kick Ranch Vineyard
Sonoma County
In early 2007, Bacchus Vineyard Management owner Glenn Alexander asked me to come up to Kick Ranch in Santa Rosa to see if I was interested in the vineyard as a potential source for top quality Syrah. Glenn had taken on the farming for owners Dick Keenan and Kathy McNamara in 2005 (www.kickranch.com). I wasn’t really looking for more Syrah but I love looking at vineyards and the possibility of learning something new from what others are doing. As we drove around the various blocks I became more and more excited by the potential for great wine and decide to try a few tons.
Dick and Kathy established Kick Ranch in 2000-2001 on a south-west facing hillside vineyard in the Rincon Valley area of Santa Rosa with 4 different Syrah selections as well as several other grape varieties. The hillside soils seemed to have tamed the inherent vigor of Syrah leading to balanced vines that are so necessary for high quality. It is not just the vineyard site though, it’s the attitude and commitment to detail and to delivering the best fruit possible. The fruit is often hand picked at night and each winery of the multiple winery partners has their own rows picked when they want. Its quite a sight being there at harvest time as crews race around to the different areas while Dick and Glenn watch over with their vineyard maps making sure each winery gets the right fruit in their own picking bins! Glenn uses distinctive blue tape to mark the bins and its easy to pick out Bacchus Vineyard managed fruit on trucks out on the highways. That first wine from ’07 utilized clones 877 and 470 and was released as a vineyard designated wine as has each succeeding vintage. Consistency, even in difficult vintages, is the hallmark of a great site and great farming. Since that first wine, I have been able to work with fruit from the clone 383 section and the “hermitage” selection and now all my Kick Ranch fruit comes from the upper east end of block B2. The vines are cordon pruned, fruit is thinned with multiple passes through the year and minimally irrigated to keep the vines healthy.
