Our 200 acres of estate owned vineyards are
the foundation for our
winery. Fundamentally, the family
understands that great wines begin in the
vineyard. This philosophy is an ideal
marriage for winemaker
Bill
Knuttel, as he spends most of his time
in the vineyard. Each harvest Bill can be
found walking vineyards, row by row, to
ensure that the grapes are ripening
perfectly. Bill’s meticulous approach to
vineyard management allows him to use the
highest quality grapes for our wines. After
all, a wine can only be as good as the fruit
in the vineyard. If the fruit is bad
there’s a pretty good chance the wine won’t
be very good either. Utilizing careful
viticultural practices and maintaining long
term relationships with growers all
contribute to producing our world-class
wines.
Endeavour Estate
Vineyard
Meet Duff Bevill
Our
Vineyard Manager
Duff Bevill
Our vineyard manager, Duff Bevill, is
equally passionate about the notion that great wine starts in the
vineyard. With more than 20 consecutive years of hands-on experience
managing both our estate and contract vineyards, Duff is a big
reason our wine quality remains consistently excellent.
Because a commitment to vineyard diversity is the cornerstone of our
winemaking philosophy, Duff Bevill has the formidable challenge of
maximizing fruit quality from each of 12 different
vineyards-including 10 individual estate properties. For more than
two decades, he has acquired knowledge about even the most subtle
differences between vineyard and how fine-tuning viticultural
practices brings out the best from each. In May 2006, Duff was awarded with the prestigious Viticulture Award of Excellence from the
Sonoma County Grape Growers Association.
Appellations & Terroir
The right grape in the right
place
Vineyard diversity forms the cornerstone of
our winemaking philosophy. Sonoma County’s
vast array of growing conditions allows us
to satisfy our desire to define varietal
type by discovering varietal-specific
growing conditions. To ensure a measure of
control in this regard, we farm multiple
vineyards within ten separate estate-owned
properties that total approximately 200 vine
acres. For example, the Dry Creek Valley is
the keeper of our hearts for Sauvignon
Blanc, Zinfandel and, more recently, the
Bordeaux varieties. Our passion for wine,
though, often causes us to connect with the
Russian River Valley for cool-loving grapes
like Chardonnay. For our
Chenin Blanc, Clarksburg,
in the Sacramento
Delta, satisfies us with precisely balanced
fruit. Our family owned vineyards provide
approximately 65% of the overall production
at Dry Creek Vineyard. Additional fruit is
sourced from vineyards managed by long-term
contract growers.
A fourth generation
descendent of a California
farming family, Don Wallace has been the
driving force working to implement
sustainable farming practices at Dry Creek
Vineyard. His efforts and direction have
established Dry Creek Vineyard as a leader
in the movement in Dry Creek Valley and the
industry as a whole.
Raptor perches in the vineyards
Our commitment to sustainable agriculture and minimal off-farm
consumption is multifaceted. Advancements in viticultural technology go hand-in-hand
with respectfully managing our space on this planet. Our ultimate
goal is to turn our vineyards over to the third generation in even
better condition than they are today. To do this, we employ a number
of strategies. Growing cover crops like clover and bell beans
rebuild depleted soil by releasing bound nutrients in the soil,
minimizing the need to import fertilizer. Cover crops also reduce
erosion because they work as bank stabilizers, attracting beneficial
insects that help balance the insect population.
In addition, we use the most
state-of-the-art vineyard equipment and
strategies available today. From soil
mapping and data gathering by way of
global-positioning satellites, to analyzing
the soil makeup with weather stations to
more accurately determine when sulfur
applications are necessary, we employ
whatever technology we can to make sound
vineyard decisions.
In the end, we are
constantly pushing for techniques that will benefit the quality of
wine at Dry Creek Vineyard and the quality of our lives and those of
future generations. Whether it’s Regulated Deficit Irrigation (RDI)
to conserve water or raptor perches in the vineyard,
our goals are always the same: make better wine and create a better
place to live and work.
