As residents of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, we are fortunate to have a hidden gem, a vineyard producing exceptional fruit for two outstanding wines. Catalina View Gardens is home to a sprawling, South facing vineyard with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. Our cool foggy mornings followed by warm sunny afternoons provide perfect conditions for both varietals and 2022 was another ideal season for the fruit grown here.

Vineyard manager Nick Zetts had been keeping a careful watch on the fruit, to find the perfect time to harvest. The optimal time this year came a little early, August 9th for the Pinot Noir and August 11th for the Chardonnay. I was thrilled to go see the vineyard team harvesting this year’s Chardonnay. With over 5,000 pounds of each varietal harvested, the production is slightly smaller than last year but the fruit promises to be remarkable.

Harvest took place early in the morning and was transported up to Buellton where the production of Catalina View Wines takes place. Under the expertise of well-renowned winemaker, Ken Brown, the fruit will be processed, crushed, fermented, aged, and bottled.

One of the unique aspects of Catalina View Wines is that the label now has a designation of “Palos Verdes Peninsula” thanks to the efforts of Founder and Vintner, Jim York. Just over a year ago this area became an official AVA (American Viticultural Area) in the state of California thanks to York’s tireless efforts over the span of three years. This designation allows vintners on the peninsula, to put Palos Verdes Peninsula on the label, making it a true estate wine.

Read the full story of Catalina View Wines here.

We look forward to the 2022 release but in the meantime will continue to enjoy the earlier vintages of both!

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We are Meg and Rich Hoffman – the "winepair" and together we share a love of wine!

We met in Napa in 2007 while working for a Napa-based winery. Rich worked at the corporate office and Meg was a sales consultant doing wine education and in-home wine tastings. While we no longer work for the same winery we have both pursued careers in the wine industry. Rich is a sales executive for a national Wine Cellar design firm and Meg has a thriving wine marketing business.

Our free time is spent exploring and tasting our way through wine regions in California and beyond!

Megan Hoffman | 310.809.0298 (cell)
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Wine blog: winepairtravels.com
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