Eva Dehlinger

Ever-Humble Sonoma Royalty
Russian River Valley

We’ll never forget the day we got a hand-written postcard in the mail from Eva Dehlinger. She commended us on our renderings of heritage clone Chardonnays over the years and inquired if we’d be interested in a new project she and her family were managing. The Vineyard was situated in a celebrated neighborhood—sandwiched between Kistler and Dehlinger on Vine Hill Rd. Planted in the 1980s on rare 8X8′ spacing, to three heritage clones of Wente Chardonnay. It was on AXR-1 rootstock (!) and was being dry-farmed. Yep, we were interested. We selected a block with the rare Curtis clone and named it Casa Seca, or “dry house” after the 1880’s brick apple kiln still looming over the vines.

Appellation: Russian River Valley
Vineyard designate: N/A
Soil type: Goldridge
Elevation: 400 feet
Clone: Curtis (old Wente)
Average age of vines: 35+ years
Farming: sustainable
Unique aspect: Historic ranch, 8×8 spacing, AXR-1 rootstock, unique Wente clones, dry-farming, pedigreed farmers
Sourced for: Casa Seca Vineyard Chardonnay + Estero, Russian River Valley Chardonnay + SoCo Chardonnay
What to expect from the wines: Racy Chardonnay with tart yellow fruit and quartz-like minerality.