Russian River Valley Wine Has Balance and Elegance on Balletto’s Sebastopol Hill Vineyards

A wine to perfectly complement a meal, all the while, evolving in the glass to heighten the food experience itself.

This is what you will find inside a bottle of Balletto Vineyards.

Balletto Estate Vineyards are located in the coolest, southern most tip of the Russian River Valley where a ceaseless ebb and flow of Pacific Ocean fog makes for a dynamic and incredible location to grow vines.

The Sebastopol Hills Vineyards, specifically, are incredible with a steep 800 foot elevation gain and the famed Goldridge soil series throughout every vineyard. Since the time that John Balletto started planted here in the mid 1990’s, the Sebastopol Hill region has become quite the haven for world-class wine grapes.

The hills are a rolling countryside with a different sized “bump” around each new bend of the roadway. Earth and savory terroir elements are both combined here.

Russian River Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from these hills tend to come with… elegant floral aromatics that are harder to find in your more coastal grown grapes.

The Pinots are distinctly different from many others grown only a stone’s throw away.  Growers and winemakers, when speaking about the Sebastopol Hills region, note that the area is one the new “Best Available Bottles” for reds coming out of Sonoma County.

Pinots grapes grown here are “flavor-ready” even at what would normally be relatively low sugar levels. The grapes also retain acidity as the grapes grow riper, a very desired trait.

At Balletto Vineyards, they currently harvest an equivalent of only 60 acres to make the Balletto wines out of over 600 acres of Russian River Valley Vineyards that they own. By selecting only the top 10 percent of everything they grow, Balletto is able to maintain a consistent quality and style of wines.

In 1995, John Balletto was one of the largest vegetable farmers on the Northern California coast. He decided to plant the Sebastopol Hills very 1st commercial vineyard on land he had been previously farming for vegetables.

After years of frustration with the weather conditions when growing veggies, John started to look for other options and noticed that a few acres of vines he had planted were thriving where the vegetables could not. The terroir of the hilly region has well-drained soils that were simply “too thirsty” to grow and also sustain a vegetable farm long-term.

With advice given by the late Warren Dutton, a Pioneer among Sonoma’s premier grape vineyards, Balletto’s Sebastopol Hill Vineyard was born.

None of the Balletto Sebastopol Hills wines are in huge supply, and that is part of their beauty.

These bottles are made for Pinot Lovers who search for an earthier, more savory style, without too much fruit.

This usually translates into wines that are lower in alcohol, higher in natural acidity and have varied and subtle flavors. Wines where new oak barrels are used sparingly to enhance the wine, not dominate it.

#SonomaChat will be Hosted by @BallettoWine this Wednesday- May 18, 2016 on Twitter LIVE from 5-6pm Pacific Standard Time. The SonomaChat Community will be learning more about Balletto’s Vineyards and Winemaking style, specifically wines made from the Sebastopol Hills Region.

We will focus our LIVE conversation on Burnside Vineyard, Sexton Vineyard and Cider Ridge Vineyard.

All three vineyards are located on the same hill with each one displaying unique growing characteristics as well as challenges.

Both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are grown on Cider Ridge and Sexton Hill Vineyards while Burnside Vineyard is ALL Pinot. Sounds like Sonoma County wine to me.

The Sebastopol Hills area is about 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean and also about 10 miles north of the windy Petaluma Gap, so fog and cold wind dominate the growing season. Again, very typical of the Sonoma County coastal regions.

Join the Conversation LIVE on Twitter to learn more and talk with the winery and winemaker while they answer your questions all while sipping Balletto and “Tweeting” about their Vineyards in the Sebastopol Hills. Balletto Wines can be found across the U.S., online and of course, in the Tasting Room in Sonoma County, California.

Follow Along using the Hashtag #SonomaChat…

MAY 18, 2016 from 5-6pm Pacific Standard Time

Twitter: @SonomaChat and @BallettoWine

Balletto Winery

From their website:

Balance and elegance are the two qualities we aim for in our wines.

This usually translates into wines that are lower in alcohol, higher in natural acidity and have varied and subtle flavors. Wines where new oak barrels are used sparingly to enhance the wine, not dominate it.

We make it this way because the wines we most love are ones that compliment a meal, as well as, change and evolve in the glass throughout dinner.

Out of our 600 acres of Russian River Valley vineyards, we currently harvest an equivalent of only 60 acres to make the Balletto wines. By selecting only the top 10 percent of everything we grow, we are able to maintain a consistent quality and style.

Our goal is that you enjoy drinking our wines as much as we enjoyed making them… More HERE.

Sebastopol Hills Vineyards:

Burnside Vineyard – 75 acres

Plantings starting in 1995

Located in the hills southwest of the town of Sebastopol, Burnside Road Vineyard is an incredibly unique growing location. Its about 12 miles east of the Pacific Ocean and about 12 miles north of the cold and windy Petaluma Wind Gap. Fog and cold wind dominate growing season and vines at Burnside are always some of the last to harvest. Our single vineyard Burnside Road Pinot Noir is produced here along with half of our Pinot Gris.

Sexton Hill Vineyard – 15 acres

Plantings starting in 2009

Sexton Hill Planted in 2009, we will harvest our first few tons of grapes from this 16 acre vineyard in 2011. And, man, are we excited. The vineyard is broken up into two distinct parcels with a redwood grove between them, and as the name implies, theres not a flat spot around. Some of the slopes are approaching 50% and its a serious,  leg-burning trek to the top of the steepest hill. This vineyard has all the makings for premium winegrowing: hillside plantings, great Goldridge soil, and cool Pacific Ocean weather. We’re coaxing this vineyard into producing what we hope will be world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Cider Ridge Vineyard – 17 acres

Plantings starting in 2010

Located at the corner of Sexton Road and Burnside Road, Cider Ridge is our newest planting. It is going to be difficult for us to wait until 2013 when the first grapes can be harvested!

The elevation starts at 980 feet above sea level and quickly descends 200 feet by the vineyards eastern most location. As you can imagine, the site has incredible hillside exposure, and like our newly planted Sexton Hill Vineyard, we have planted and are farming this vineyard to produce world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.