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  • March 21st, 2022

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    Dear Friends,

    Happy Spring.  We are enjoying great weather at Nicholson Ranch with bright sunny days and cool nights.  Warm sunshine is waking up the vines from their winter hibernation.  The buds on the vines swell up and open gradually to reveal a small branch with tiny leaves.  “Bud-break” as it is called, is the start of another vintage. 

    2022 is a significant year in the history of Nicholson Ranch.  I am replanting all our Chardonnay and Merlot vines and about half of the Pinot Noir.  I planted the original vines in 1995 on land that had been a cattle ranch for several decades.  Vineyards usually have a life-span of 30 years.  The last few years with fires, smoke and drought have accelerated the aging of the plants.  

    The good news is that I get to plant new little baby vines, this time with more knowledge and less trepidation than in 1995.  Pinot Noir and Chardonnay have excelled at Nicholson Ranch, so naturally I am planting these varietals, albeit with a different mix of clones.  Clones, as many of you know, are slight variations in the variety that manifest as a different nose or a different texture in the resulting wine.  Think of the difference between the Dry Farmed Pinot and the 777 Pinot.  Each of these are crafted from a different clone of Pinot Noir.  The Dry Farmed shows more aroma while the 777 has more texture on the palate.  For the replant, I have selected clones that have produced our Reserve level of wines.  As these new vines age, I expect to craft even better wines through this decade.

    Second, I am increasing the number of vines of Merlot and Syrah.  At present we have two acres and one acre of these vines.  This will increase to three acres for each variety.  Both Merlot and Syrah are more hardy grapes than Pinot Noir.  They tolerate heat and unseasonal rain without compromising quality.  Both Nicholson Ranch Merlot and Syrah wines are new world in flavor and old world in style, showing great texture and finish while showcasing signature California fruit flavors.

    Work on the replanting has begun, with new vines planted in a nursery where they will be nurtured for a year before planting at Nicholson Ranch.  The new vines are a combination of a rootstock and a graft.  The rootstock is plant material from native American vines that are best suited for our soil.  These will first be planted in little pots to establish roots.  Next year, the varietal graft (Chardonnay or Pinot Noir) will be inserted into the stem of the rootstock to create the new vine.  The graft is the same genetic material as each of the clones that we have at Nicholson Ranch.  The new vines will go into the ground in the Spring of 2023 to continue the lineage of Nicholson Ranch wines.

    I appreciate your continued patronage and I look forward to seeing you in the coming months.  

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    Sincerely,

    Deepak Gulrajani

  • July 21st, 2021

    By

    Dear Friends,

    Welcome to the much-awaited Summer of 2021. We have turned the page on Covid, and there are almost no restrictions on our guests or us.  It is good to see friends and family after the long Covid isolation.  We are so excited and grateful to host club members, many of you, making your first trip to Nicholson Ranch in two years.  It is lovely, once again, to engage with you without heightened concern on social distancing.  Bring on the hugs and the handshakes.  We have missed you.

    This Summer brings its unique character. We see the effects of the extreme heat and drought in the West.  The few of us, close to the California Coast, have the fog to shield us from the intense heat domes that have settled for days in the West.  The coastal fog and the ocean breeze have been singularly consistent, rolling in every evening and lowering our nighttime temperatures to 55 degrees.   The nighttime cooling may be the essential factor in allowing us to grow fabulous Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.  The cooling slows down the ripening of the grapes and allows the grapes to retain their acidity.  A slow growth gives the grapes more time to spend basking in the sunshine, adding layers of flavor with each extra day.  The right amount of acidity in the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes showcases the flavor to maximum effect.

    The 2018 Cactus Hill Pinot Noir and the 2018 Sonoma Valley Chardonnay are delicate wines magically crafted by the sun and fog to display their complex aromas and flavors.  The third wine in the release is the 2015 Nicholson Ranch Napa Valley Cabernet.  This wine, blended from barrels I have acquired in my long quest to find a Napa vineyard, does not disappoint the nose or the palate.

    Last November, I found the perfect vineyard in Yountville with seven acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese planted on the western hillsides of Napa.  Now, nine months later, I am launching the Gulrajani Family Estate.  The Gulrajani vineyard features three wines – a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Super-Tuscan blend of Cabernet and Sangiovese named Narasimha, and a Sangiovese-focused wine called Sanjaya. The initial release is less than 100 cases of each wine.  We hope to increase the production to 300 cases each.  All wines will be sold exclusively to the wine club.  We encourage you to learn more about the new estate and these fabulous wines by going to the website www.gulrajaniestate.com.  While you are there, I invite you to join the Gulrajani wine club.

    Thank you for being Nicholson Ranch club members.  I look forward to your visit, in the meantime, e-hugs, and e-handshakes.

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    Cheers!

    Deepak Gulrajani