FROM VINE TO TABLE
The Vineyard
THE PERFECT MIX
The Dream & The Vision
June Mountain Vineyard is the realization of a dream shared by June Ressler & Michael Bloch. Many of our early dates were spent visiting wineries in the Napa Valley and Sonoma County. We both love drinking and learning about wine, and together have explored wine regions in Australia, Croatia, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, and Spain, as well as up and down the west coast of the US. As we considered our post-retirement future, the idea of living in a world-class wine region, growing grapes and making wine for our friends and families to enjoy became our goal.
GETTING STARTED
Clearing the Land
In 2013, after several years of searching for land in Napa or Sonoma County upon which to build our future home, we purchased a fantastic mountain-top property in Sonoma County northeast of Santa Rosa. We hadn’t planned on planting a vineyard right away, but the property came with a vineyard development permit that was about to expire, so we dug deep and immediately began the work of clearing and preparing 22 acres for vineyard development. Our plan was to sell most of the grapes to other wineries, keeping one acre for ourselves to make our own wine. Our confidence in this site was rewarded in 2015 when it was included in the newly designated Fountaingrove District AVA.
DEVELOPMENT
Planting the Vines
Planting began in 2014. We planted blocks of many different grape varieties to sell: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Nebbiolo, and Sagrantino. You would recognize many of the wineries we sold fruit to, and several wineries made single-vineyard designated wines from our grapes. We named the one acre we kept for ourselves “Michael’s Block”, and it included all the red Bordeaux varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec) plus Zinfandel, Syrah and Sagrantino.
OUR FIRST CRUSH
First Harvest
Our first harvest was 2016. A newly planted vineyard will increase yields for the first several years, and our first year yielded just under a ton of grapes. All 8 of the varieties grown in Michael’s Block were picked and fermented together (known as a field blend) to make a single wine, released in January 2018. We named this wine “June’s Juice”—even before we bought the land, June had always said she wanted to make a wine by that name. We only produced 37 cases of June’s Juice, and even though we never sold any, we have just 4 cases remaining.
FIRST FIELD BLENDS
Winemaking
In 2017, yields increased enough for us to make two different field blends. We picked and co-fermented a Bordeaux blend, and separately co-fermented a Zinfandel/Syrah blend. Our wine releases were “Romeo’s Red,” the Bordeaux blend, and “April’s Honor,” featuring 50% each of the Bordeaux blend and the Zinfandel/Syrah blend. We were fortunate to harvest all these grapes just days before the Tubbs Fire burned right through our vineyard. Because vineyards are natural fire breaks and we had no major structures on the property, we were lucky to sustain very little damage. We released Romeo’s Red and April’s Honor in November 2019.
FIRST FIELD BLENDS
Winemaking
In 2017, yields increased enough for us to make two different field blends. We picked and co-fermented a Bordeaux blend, and separately co-fermented a Zinfandel/Syrah blend. Our wine releases were “Romeo’s Red,” the Bordeaux blend, and “April’s Honor,” featuring 50% each of the Bordeaux blend and the Zinfandel/Syrah blend. We were fortunate to harvest all these grapes just days before the Tubbs Fire burned right through our vineyard. Because vineyards are natural fire breaks and we had no major structures on the property, we were lucky to sustain very little damage. We released Romeo’s Red and April’s Honor in November 2019.
MASSIMO MONTICELLI
Meet Our Winemaker
Our winemaking took a leap forward in 2018 when, for the first time, we picked each of our major varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Zinfandel) independently at the peak of ripeness and vinified them separately. Each variety spent 21 months in 50% new French oak; then in the weeks leading to bottling (July 2020), we joined our winemaker Massimo Monticelli for several blending trials to create what we believed to be the best expression of these wines. The 2018 “Michael’s Block Cabernet Sauvignon” was our first varietal release, consisting of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Syrah. And the 2018 “Bobby’s Blend,” an homage to June’s father, is a juicy red blend consisting of 50% each of Zinfandel and Syrah.
MASSIMO MONTICELLI
Meet Our Winemaker
Our winemaking took a leap forward in 2018 when, for the first time, we picked each of our major varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Zinfandel) independently at the peak of ripeness and vinified them separately. Each variety spent 21 months in 50% new French oak; then in the weeks leading to bottling (July 2020), we joined our winemaker Massimo Monticelli for several blending trials to create what we believed to be the best expression of these wines. The 2018 “Michael’s Block Cabernet Sauvignon” was our first varietal release, consisting of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Syrah. And the 2018 “Bobby’s Blend,” an homage to June’s father, is a juicy red blend consisting of 50% each of Zinfandel and Syrah.
ZINFANDEL DEBUT
The Wedding Wine
2019 was another excellent growing year for us. In addition to releasing a new vintage of Michael’s Block Cabernet Sauvignon, we produced our first Zinfandel, which we named “Amoureux” in honor of our newly married Son and Daughter-in-law, and we released it in time to be served at their November 2021 wedding.
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