This vineyard site lies on a very rich soil pattern along the northern banks of Mark West creek. Once while drilling a well hundreds of feet below the surface, an ancient layer of petrified Redwood trees was discovered. This area of Sonoma County is known as the 'Santa Rosa Plain', and is one of the migratory trails that the coastal Indians used when they journeyed inland when the seasons changed.

During the last century the Terra Felice vineyard site has cycled from grapes, to hops, to walnuts and prunes, then apples, and back to grapes. Prohibition, blight that infected hops, two World Wars, and the removal of train tracks whichwere the primary source of transportation, all directly affected the transitionfrom one agricultural product to another throughout the decades.

This small vineyard was planted to the specifications of John Wetlaufer and our winemaker, Helen Turley. The vines are on a vertically trained trellis system with the fruit hanging between 24 and 28 inches above the ground. The vineyard consists of 2,000 vines per acre which are spaced meter by 2 meters apart. Each vine yields about 3 pounds of fruit compared to the earlier standard plantings, 10x12 feet apart, which may yield a heavy crop of 20 to 30 pounds. After picking, the grape clusters are de-stemmed and the whole berries undergo a long cool fermentation, with indigenous yeast, to generate skin contact and extract fruit character. The juice is gravity fed into small oak barrels with a touch of residual sugar remaining to complete the fermentation process in barrel until dry. It is then allowed to rest and mature in 75% new French oak on its gross lees for 10 months without interruption.

The Terra Felice Syrah is laden with rich flavors and aromas of plum, violets, raw meat, and tobacco.