About Hirsch Vineyards

Hirsch Vineyards sits amongst the very greatest Californian Pinot Noir producers in the increasingly excellent and crowded pantheon of outstanding estates in the region. Their wines are almost entirely released on allocation.

David Hirsch founded his eponymous estate some two hours north of the town of Sonoma itself on the Californian coast in 1980 after he purchased what was a sheep ranch for many years prior. The visionary winemaker quickly recognised the potential of this site for Pinot Noir and began planting at a remarkable speed.

For the first 20 years of Hirsch Vineyards' existence, the entirety of their crop was sold to winemakers. Over the years, however, it became increasingly clear that the fruit from this site in the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA was more than worthy of an estate bottling. In 2002, David Hirsch began the transition from exclusively selling, and employed some legendary winemakers from the region such as Peay's Vanessa Wong and Ross Cobb of Cobb Wines.

The Vineyard and Winemaking 

The 28 hectares of Pinot Noir currently managed by David's daughter Jasmine Hirsch contain remarkably varied and unique terroirs. Jasmine notes that: "People look at Hirsch like it's a single vineyard, but it's actually super-fragmented like a village in Burgundy. We have...Pinot Noir in 60 parcels with 30 different soil combinations" 

This remarkable diversity presents a challenge in that it demands great attention to detail in terms of farming and site management - what one set of vines require may severely impair another just a few hundred meters away. It does, however, allow Hirsch Vineyards to produce a variety of stunning single-vineyard expressions which convey the terroirs' uniqueness. 

Decidedly Burgundian in methodology, Jasmine Hirsch prefers a more low-intervention approach - who would want to interfere with this terroir anyway! Small, open-top stainless steel fermenters are used in the winery with indigenous yeasts. Around 30% of the bunches retain their stems, which add supple yet persistent tannins allowing these wines to age exquisitely. Ageing takes place in almost entirely French oak barriques, with new wood kept restrained so that purity of fruit sings through every wine.