Alex Holman of Notre Vue Estate
Tell us about the sustainable and eco-friendly practices at the vineyard: Notre Vue Estate encompasses 710 acres of land in both the Chalk Hill and Russian River Valley appellations. The Estate was founded by Bob and Renee Stein in 1992. In 2014, we dedicated 350 acres of the property as a nature preserve in perpetuity under an agreement with the Sonoma County Open Space District. That space is now known as our “Forever Wild” open space.
We didn’t realize it fully at the time we dedicated the space, but in the years following, as native wildlife and plant-life flourished in that space, we used progressively less pesticide in the grape vines until today when we use none. Effectively the healthy animal and insect population in the open space area takes care of the “bad” or invasive pests in the vines. Our entire property has become a well-balanced eco-system.
Additionally, in 2014, we achieved Sonoma County Sustainable certification so now our vineyard and winery are certified sustainable by the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance. All of our wines carry the “Sustainable Farmed Grapes” certification on the label.
Tell us about the varietals you make: The vineyards are planted to 16 varietals and our property straddles both the Russian River and Chalk Hill AVAs which gives us an incredible toolbox with which to craft our estate wines. We produce classic Russian River Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays as well as Chalk Hill Cabs and Sauvignon Blancs but also very unique varietals for the region such as Chardonnay Musque and Chalk Hill Malbec and our own Bordeaux blends and Southern Rhone style GSMs.
What are a few wines that readers should try right now?
2019 Notre Vue Chardonnay Musque (Russian River AVA)