Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/72473
DEPARTMENT HEADER The cool valley floor is perfect for growing Pinot Noir and many of Brassfield's white varietals. High Serenity Ranch: Six Years Later Imagine a 2,500-acre estate including a winery, vineyards with a thousand- acre wildlife reserve. Within the relatively new AVA of High Valley, Brassfield's High Serenity Ranch is all that and more: California-Mission style villa, habitat for fowl and animals on the prowl and serene mountain-top retreat. Whereas six years before, this was still a newly developing vineyard site for Brassfield, one of the area's pioneers, the estate has now come into its own—a realization of the ability to craft world-class wines in Lake County. The frontier continues to widen, and if the wines were good then, they are better than good now—in fact, they are different animals altogether. David Ramey's Influence The renaissance at Brassfield is threefold: the wines, the winemaker and the brass. David Green's experience in running wineries, dealing with distribution and sales forces over the past 15 years, has 84 / the tasting panel / july 2012 led him to an ideal position as President of the winery. Knowing there was room for improvement in the flavor and character of the previous iteration of Brassfield Estate's portfolio, he brought on David Ramey to consult and shape the winemaking approach—one of the most influential winemakers in the U.S.—to bring an uplifted style and finesse, changes which were initiated with the 2009 vintage. Green also nar- rowed down the SKUs for wholesale distribution, creating a serviceable array of impressive branding that fulfills the destiny of the grapes from this spectacular growing region. "Ramey insisted that we would not have a Cabernet or Chardonnay in the book," Green states, adding, "He just wants to show off the most appropriate varietals from this amazing place." Volcanic Soils Rich, red drained alluvial soils are the foundation for the vines, impacted by Round Mountain volcano. Its last eruption, which occurred ten thousand years ago, created the natural dam that