We were forced to rip out the vines in 1995 and replant the vineyard in 1997. This unique soil structure makes it a fertile location to grow almost everything. Through the years Jerry's green thumb cultivated beautiful roses, peaches, berries, cherries, and of course, grapevines. The site is ideally suited to grow Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, but because of the richness of the soil we must take special measures to control the vigor of the vines. Left on their own, they would thrive in this fertile location, focusing all their energy on producing foliage.
Vigorous growth can result in green stemmy characteristics in the finished wines.
To contend with this challenge, the vines were planted on a low vigor rootstock in a very dense configuration to force the vines to compete. In addition, we stress the vines through minimal irrigation. We have been very pleased with the results of this unique situation. Because this vineyard is close to our hearts, we named it for one of our winery's founders, Margaret Duckhorn. Her friends and family call her by her nickname, Marlee, and it seemed only fitting to name this site for her.