One of the best parts of our job is that we are required to drive to beautiful places and meet interesting people in order to produce incredible wine.  At Donelan, we are primarily concerned with finding a tremendous site, period.  We will worry afterward whether it is in a convenient AVA, easy to get to, etc.

Perli Vineyard Pinot Noir represents such a search and has everything we look for in a vineyard.  Oh, and it is farmed in the coastal mountain wilderness of southern Mendocino County.  Rocks? Check. Wind? Check. Cool Temerpatures? Check.  Committed grower whose over arching desire to create one of the best vineyards in all of California? You bet!

We have been working with Perli Vineyard for a few vintages and a recent visit reiterated one of the unique properties of this site: it is wilderness.  Bears, boars, and all sorts of unusual “pests” grace the vineyard and provide their own set of unique challenges.  What we know is that the red, quartz filled soil produces a uniquely flavored Pinot Noir that at once seems Oregonian and Californian in its ethos.  It is the core of the Two Brothers Pinot Noir and you should give it a try.  Join our community for free to purchase or let us know when you are in Sonoma County and come by to try the 2011 Perli Pinot Noir directly from barrel.  Enjoy!