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In 1971 Ned Smith had the curious vision that matched
Carl Doumani with the historic Stags Leap Winery and
estate thereby launching a new epoch for Petite Syrah.
Following the acclaimed restoration and expansion
of Stags Leap, Doumani began plans for a smaller winery
and vineyard on the adjacent property. This became
Quixote.
Quixote Winery devotes itself exclusively to making
small quantities of Petite Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon
under the Quixote and Panza labels. All fruit is sourced
from our family’s 27-acre, organically-farmed
Stags’ Leap Ranch estate vineyard planted in
1996 located between Stags’ Leap Winery and
Shafer Vineyards.
A few wise people led us to our current farming practices
at Quixote.
The first and possibly most influential of these
was a local folk hero named Manuel “Manny”
Barboza who, in a certain sense, came with Stags’
Leap Ranch when we bought it more than 30 years ago.
Manny pretty much always knew what a vine was going
to do before it happened. For him, the science of
viticulture was in paying attention.
Then, because we always loved to eat, a young lady
named Alice Waters followed close behind. From her
Chez Panisse kitchen 35 years ago came perfectly ripe
organic fruit and naturally grown vegetables along
with the certain conviction that organic and sustainable
farming was essential.
Next, came Friedensreich Hundertwasser to whom we
were drawn because of his art and architecture. But,
with his art came philosophy:
“You are a guest of Nature. Behave,”
he said. We listened.
Finally, and most specifically, was our neighbor
to the north, Rob Sinskey. Rob did the hard work of
quietly and expensively experimenting in his Stags
Leap and Carneros vineyards for 10 years before he
talked out loud about his farming practices. We were
lucky enough to be nearby when he started talking.
In the end, we learned that it’s hard to overstate
the value of rich, living soil to sustaining grapevines
that give us luscious fruit year in and year out.
Under the tutelage of Jack Chambers, we started each
rootstock by tossing in a cup of worm castings. To
allow the Stags Leap soil to fully express its remarkable
character, we planted our vineyard at 5’ x 7’
intervals that is divided into 18 distinctive blocks,
each with a slightly different elevation, slope and
soil.
Each block is harvested individually and the fruit
fermented separately. Often, vineyard blocks are picked
two or three times, taking only grapes that are perfectly
ripe. To ensure even ripening, we remove grape clusters
from each vine thus reducing our harvest to as little
as two tons per acre.
We think you’ll agree, the resulting flavor
concentration is sublime.
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