Rio Vista Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills AVA
Rio Vista is the eastern most vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills appellation and has a warmer microclimate. Norm remembers being flattered when he received a letter of invitation to source grapes from property owners Graner and Bobbie Thorne. Subsequently, Flying Goat was one of the first wineries to release a Rio Vista designated wine in 2003.
The property was planted and is meticulously farmed by John Belfry of Buona Terra Farming. There are three different vineyards at Rio Vista and Flying Goat has sourced Pinot Noir from each. Rio Vista Vineyards North and South, located east of Santa Rosa Road, were planted in 2000. The third vineyard, located west of Santa Rose Road, was planted in 2006. Flying Goat receives clones 2A, 115, 667 and 777 from Rio Vista, offering several clonal-designate wines – clone 2A, clone 667, clone 777 and our Dijon clone blend. Most of the vineyard rows run North – South with some East – West along a west-facing hillside and unfold onto the valley floor surrounding the Thorne’s historic family headquarters. The dominate soil series present are limestone, sedimentary soils and a marine layer of sandy loam. The trellising system is vertical shoot positioning (VSP). The cover crop usually is barley, sometimes a legume and wild flowers will be used.