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Philosophy and History
It had been a long time dream for us to live on a piece of land, surrounded by nature and wildlife, far from traffic, noise and light pollution, where we could raise our daughter, plant a garden, an orchard, keep some dogs and a flock of chickens. Having made a living in film for many years, we knew of Marcel Pagnol who succeeded in combining those worlds of the writer, the cameraman, and the farmer. So did Jack London not far from us, in the Valley of the Moon.
We were lucky, and, thanks to John and Maggy Kongsgaard, we found that piece of land of our dreams on top of Spring Mountain: an abandoned walnut orchard, blight stricken, overgrown with blackberries, and surrounded by forest. To this day, there is an occasional bear who leaves its footprint - just to let us know.
We broke ground in 2002 and planted thirteen acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, one acre of Merlot and one acre of Petit Verdot. In 2007, one ton of the harvest was vinified into our first vintage at Kongsgaard cellars - under the guidance of John and his son Alex. Ever since, we have cellared each vintage on Atlas Peak. With John's philosophy of low intervention, the wine is fermented on its own yeast and remains unfiltered. It is aged in French oak for twentytwo months and stays in bottle for two years before it is released. We started with fifty cases, increased to one hundred... we have produced two hundred cases since 2012. Our goal is to achieve a wine which expresses its place of origin to the fullest, with grace, balance, and authenticity.
Christina Lüscher-Ballard & Carroll Ballard
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