Tondre Grapefield
Appellation: Santa Lucia Highlands (Monterey County)
Owner: Joe and Penny Alarid
Acreage (for Testarossa): 5
Yield: 2 ton/ acre
Clones: Pommard, Dijon 115
Soil Composition: Chualar loam
Elevation: 300-400 feet
Exposure: East/southeast-facing hillside
Tondre Grapefield was planted in 1997 on six and half acres in the heart of the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation. It now has seven blocks for an accumulation of fifty two acres dedicated to Pinot Noir grape vines.
Several of the leading Pinot Noir clones are planted to ensure that there is a medley of fruit all with an intense expression of deep, rich flavors. The clones gain complexity and nuance from deep vine penetration of the soil and extraction of its minerals. The grapevines are pruned to hang two clusters per shoot with an average thirteen shoots per vine which yield three and a half tons per acre of ripe and distinctive Pinot Noir grapes.