Vintegrity is excited to offer these amazing new wines, including a Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the legendary wine maker Dave Phinney. You might know him as the founder of The Prisoner winery and Orin Swift, which he started in Napa Valley back in 1998. Decanter magazine even called him “A master of creating wines that people just can’t get enough of!”
His latest project takes him to the Santa Rita Hills in California, where he’s working on a new vineyard called Our Lady of Guadalupe. It’s a cool, windy area perfect for producing high-quality, low-yield wines. Phinney and his team discovered this abandoned farm and spent two years revitalizing the soil with compost, gypsum, and nitrogen-rich cover crops. Now, with carefully planted vines that began growing in 2018, they’re producing wines with a focus on clones, microclimates, and soil, designed specifically for the winemaking process. It’s the ultimate winemaker’s vineyard!
Commitment to Sustainability
Our Lady of Guadalupe Vineyard emphasizes sustainability through SIP (Sustainability-in-Practice) certification, incorporating environmental, social, and economic factors into vineyard management. The team restored the abandoned row crop farm by improving soil health with compost, gypsum, and cover crops, ensuring nutrient-rich soil for planting. They also prioritized organic mycorrhizae and beneficial microbes to reduce synthetic inputs like fertilizers and pesticides.
To conserve water, the vineyard uses soil moisture probes and cover crops to minimize erosion. Weed control is managed sustainably using sheep grazing, mechanical cultivators, and a tolerance for low-lying weeds. A shift to No Till practices helps decrease erosion, while ongoing evaluation ensures sustainability. Integrated Pest Management (IPM), along with wind protection and innovative pest control like owl boxes, supports natural disease prevention, reducing chemical use and environmental impact.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Wines
The 2021 vintage laid the groundwork for Phinney’s latest releases: a newly launched Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which Wine Enthusiast describes as having “strong aromas of fruit punch, sagebrush, and cracked pepper that are playful but pointed on the nose. The exciting palate is loaded with spicy pepper that enlivens the crisp pomegranate and cherry flavors.”
“Each year, we learn more about the intricacies of our special vineyard,” Phinney says. “Building on the success of our inaugural vintage, the 2022 OLG Pinot Noir continues our quest to produce a wine that captures the essence of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Vineyard, the vintage, and the terroir it inhabits.”
Vintegrity is delighted to offer Dave Phinney’s groundbreaking releases and to host the man himself as he personally introduces them at Rye Plaza in Kansas City. This trade event (Click for More Details) will also feature craft spirits from Phinney’s renowned distillery, Savage & Cooke, located on Mare Island in Vallejo, California. Famous for utilizing winemaking techniques like barrel aging in wine casks, Phinney’s overlapping interests have led to the creation of exciting wines and spirits that he and Vintegrity are thrilled to bring to Kansas and Missouri.
2021 OLG Pinot Noir
Winemaker’s Notes
A fluorescent ruby core and a flashing vermilion rim pour into the glass gracefully. Immediate aromatic complexities abound, rife with notes of black cherry, hibiscus, rose petal, a touch of strawberry, caramel apple and confectioner’s chocolate. The entry dances across the palate with framboise, pomegranate and baking spices, enhanced by the soft texture and ripples of acidity. The piquant finish continues the flow of energy as the acid brings together notes of amaro and black cherry, yet again.
2022 OLG Pinot Noir
Winemaker’s Notes
The 2022 OLG Pinot Noir pours a dark persimmon core with a lucid rose hip rim. Laden with elegant aromatics, notes of bright raspberry and bing cherry develop into darker tones of black cherry, mocha and mahogany. On the palate, the entry is scrumptiously soft with cranberry crunch, ripe strawberry, redcurrant and a touch of maritozzo. Typical of the Sta. Rita Hills, the finish is lined with minerality and some saline hints with closing touches of fennel and anise.
2022 OLG Chardonnay
Winemaker’s Notes
The 2022 OLG Chardonnay is a sight to behold—a slow moving pour of pale liquid gold with a hint of a blue-green shimmer against the light. Aromatically, the wine draws you in with its gravity, notes of Meyer lemon zest, Marcona almond, white flower, praline, a beguiling toast with a hint of musk. The entry envelops effortlessly with a rich texture and pointed ‘tip-of-the-tongue’ acidity at the same time; minerality and lemon custard are buttressed with hints of pecorino and Granny Smith apple. Bright and fresh, the wine closes with a touch of caramel that never quite disappears.
