25 Years in the Making: Introducing WindRock Vineyard

In our 25th vintage under the ROAR label, we are introducing the first wine from WindRock Vineyard, our newest estate project in the Santa Lucia Highlands.

WindRock is the third vineyard our family has planted and farmed in partnership with the Pisoni family, following Garys’ and Soberanes vineyards. It carries a partnership begun by Gary Franscioni and Gary Pisoni into its second generation.

There are few opportunities in a lifetime to plant a vineyard. Each one begins with a series of decisions whose full effects may not be understood for decades: where to plant, how to orient the rows, how closely to space the vines, which clones to select, and how best to farm a site that is still largely unknown.

Rosella’s and Sierra Mar, our two family-owned estate vineyards, are located in very different parts of the appellation and show how clearly geography can shape a vineyard’s identity. Garys’, Soberanes, and WindRock offer a subtler lesson: even neighboring sites can produce wines with personalities entirely their own.

Our families share a closely aligned approach to viticulture, grounded in careful observation, and responding to the needs of each individual site. WindRock represents the latest expression of that shared farming history and nearly three decades of lessons carried from one vineyard to the next.

“We ought to call this Wind Rock Vineyard. There’s nothing out here but wind and rock!”

— Gary Franscioni

Each Vineyard Informs the NextGarys’, Soberanes, and WindRock border one another and share broadly similar topography. They are farmed by the same families, with the same crew and attention to detail. Yet each produces a wine with a character entirely its own.

Garys’ Vineyard was planted first, in 1997, and quickly demonstrated the potential of this section of the Santa Lucia Highlands. The vineyard thrived from the beginning and continues to produce Pinot Noir with the power and generous fruit that have become hallmarks of the region.

As we farmed Garys’ over time, we saw an opportunity to adjust the row orientation in the next vineyard to capture more direct sunlight.

When Soberanes was planted immediately south of Garys’ in 2008, the rows were shifted approximately 15 degrees. The adjustment was intended to better capture the sun, particularly in a region where morning fog and strong afternoon winds can limit the daily window for photosynthesis and ripening.

Soberanes was also planted with tighter row spacing, encouraging competition among the vines and helping build concentration in the fruit. The revised orientation improved sunlight exposure, although it also reduced the amount of wind moving directly through the canopy.

Neither approach is inherently better. Each set of planting decisions helped shape the distinct character of the vineyard where it was applied.

It is a reminder that terroir is expressed not only through climate and geology, but also through the choices made at planting and the way a vineyard is farmed over time.
 
A Vineyard Shaped by Wind and Stone

The lessons learned from farming Garys’ and Soberanes came together at WindRock, a 16-acre site planted in 2021 directly north of Garys’ Vineyard.

The vineyard’s name emerged during one particularly blustery afternoon while the site was being planted. Looking across the raw ground, Gary Franscioni remarked, “We ought to call this Wind Rock Vineyard. There’s nothing out here but wind and rock!”

The name stuck, eventually styled as one word: WindRock. It is a simple and fitting tribute to the forces that define the place. Rocks line the rows, while persistent winds sweep through the vines throughout the growing season.

Here, the row orientation falls between those of Garys’ and Soberanes. The rows were positioned to receive generous sunlight while still allowing the prevailing winds to move through the canopy. The additional sun supports ripening, while the airflow helps reduce mildew pressure in a region where morning fog is common.

The site slopes gently from west to east, and its 16-acre, compact footprint makes it easy to walk from one end to the other. Like Garys’, WindRock is planted entirely to Pinot Noir, though its clonal composition is different.

Approximately half of the vineyard is planted to Pommard and half to Calera clones, giving WindRock a different clonal foundation from neighboring Garys’ and Soberanes, which are planted primarily to Pisoni, 667, and smaller amounts of Calera.

Lemon groves border the vineyard on two sides, including its northern edge, where the prevailing winds enter the site before moving through the rows.

Establishing the vineyard was only the beginning. Understanding its identity would take time.

In the CellarDuring WindRock’s first years of production, we chose not to rush toward a vineyard-designated bottling. We wanted to give the vines time to mature while learning how the site expressed itself in the cellar.

The early fruit became part of our Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir, joining five other vineyards in a blend spanning the appellation.

With the 2025 vintage, WindRock’s identity came clearly into focus, and we knew the vineyard was ready to stand on its own.

The 2025 growing season was remarkably steady and cool, resulting in one of our four longest growing seasons since we began farming in 1996. The wines have shown exceptional promise in the cellar, making it an especially fitting vintage for WindRock’s debut and our 25th under the ROAR label.

Our Pinot Noirs are typically made from fully destemmed fruit, an approach that emphasizes purity of fruit and allows the character of each vineyard to remain at the forefront.

For WindRock, we introduced a portion of whole-cluster fermentation, an approach we felt particularly suited the vineyard’s Pommard and Calera selections which help accentuates the herbal and earthy mineral character of the vineyard.