Not owning or being tied to any one vineyard sets us free to choose amongst a variety of fruit to create our wines. We enjoy producing a number of varietals, so we travel throughout the north coast every year, seeing—and tasting—for ourselves, which fruit is going to make a unique wine that best suits our style.

Each varietal has its favorite climate, and each year has a different set of climate circumstances that affect the fruit, giving the wine unique characteristics. This means to us that having both a keen knowledge of these factors and a strong relationship with your growers are key in producing consistently great wines, year after year.

Once we’ve identified the vineyards with the micro-climates we look for, we are consistently working with the vineyard owners. We highly value our relationships with the vineyards owners and growers; they are our partners in producing our wines. We look for growers who are as committed to their grapes as we are to our wines. Great growers know how to work with each season’s climate swings, and they know how to balance quantity and quality, so one is not sacrificed for the other. We also seek vineyards that use sustainable farming practices, as part of our business philosophy and commitment to the future.

While we love the freedom of not being tied to any one vineyard, we are paying attention to what we’ve learned about growing each varietal. Our hopes are to one day have a Joseph Jewell Vineyard full of the fruit of our own.