Donnachadh

Family owned and organic certified, Donnachadh (don-nuh-kuh) is an ambitious young estate located on the Santa Rosa Road in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA of Santa Barbara County (see AVA notes above at Sandhi).  The property farms 16 hectares of vineyard planted in 2013, spread across Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah and Gamay.

Winemaking is led by Ernst Storm, the brother of Hannes Storm here in the Cape. Ernst graduated from Elsenburg Agricultural College in Stellenbosch and has lived and worked in California for over two decades. He also has a solo project, Storm Wines since 2006.

The vineyard at Donnachadh consists of two main parts: the hillside blocks, and the riverside blocks. The riverside blocks sit alongside the Santa Ynez River.  They are more sheltered from the wind than the hillside blocks and the soil is a delicate and well drained sandy loam that sits on top of deep layers of gravel river deposits. The hillside blocks are more exposed to the ocean winds. The soil there is derived from marine shale deposits and features more clay, rocks and cobbles than the riverside blocks. Overall, the hillside environment is quite challenging for the vines, limiting yields and producing grapes of exceptional character.

For the moment, these early releases are all sourced from estate fruit, although the Sta. Rita Hills tier will likely see inclusions from elsewhere in due course.