Cartograph: Our Journey In Wine

Great wine takes you places. It takes you back to the region where the grapes were grown. It takes you to the time and place where you first tasted that wine. It conjures memories of sharing wine with friends and family.

Cartograph is itself a destination, a road map and a journey. That journey is represented in the imagery that adorns the Cartograph label. Look closely and you’ll see where we’ve been, where our paths have crossed and the circumstances of several careers and experiences that defined who we are, how we think, how a passion for great wine was instilled within us and, finally, how Cartograph was created.

When you enjoy a Cartograph wine, our journeys come together. Where were you when you had your first taste of Cartograph wines?  Where were you when a glass of wine truly captured your attention? Where is your favorite wine from?  Share your stories with us and join our growing community of wine lovers at Cartograph. 

Bottling the First Cartograph Wines

Bottling is a loud, joyous, flurry of activity. It reflects the culmination of months or even years of work you've done on one particular wine. All the decisions about when to pick, how to ferment the grapes, what the aging regimen will be, and so on are all over on this day. The wine gets bottled and it evolves on its own without your assistance. Your only remaining decisions are when will you open it and, perhaps, if you will decant it or share it with others. (Remember, sharing is good).

Read more on the Cartograph Blog

Floodgate Gewürztraminer Harvest Video

The moon shed just a little light as we headed out to a night pick at the Floodgate vineyard in the Russian River Valley. We only were able to secure one ton of this beautiful fruit but it was a fabulous morning in the vineyard.
Watch the video on the Cartograph Blog

Barrel Tastings and Pourings

Since our inaugural release of the Cartograph wines, we have had a wonderful time doing pourings and barrel tastings and talking with people about Cartograph.  We had two great groups come visit us and barrel taste the 2009 Cartograph Pinot which will be bottled in August.  We also had a fabulous time pouring at Pinot Days in San Francisco and at The Wine Shop in Healdsburg.  We're excited to go catch up with folks in Minnesota and in New York in August and introduce the latest releases.

Cartograph Wines Inaugural Release

We are very excited to share these wonderful wines with everyone who has supported our journey as we built our wine making knowledge and created Cartograph. It is a dream come true. As the grapes are blooming for our next vintage, we're focusing on how to maintain the very high standards that we've set with these first three wines from Cartograph.