Most everyone knows that Jim Pratt is a grower we truly admire, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that when the opportunity for a little Chardonnay from Vine Hill presented itself, it was a run, don’t walk situation. On the edge of Green Valley near Forestville in the Laguna Hills region, legendary vintner neighbors all around this vineyard are just one clue that something very special is happening here.

This is classic Green Valley, fragrant and begging for attention. The small, 8.6 acre vineyard is just northwest of Sundawg Ridge, sloping gently east to west with well drained Goldridge sandy loam soil, benefitting from the spring-fed lake that inspired the vineyard name.

Most everyone knows that Jim Pratt is a grower we truly admire, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that when the opportunity for a little Chardonnay from Vine Hill presented itself, it was a run, don’t walk situation. On the edge of Green Valley near Forestville in the Laguna Hills region, legendary vintner neighbors all around this vineyard are just one clue that something very special is happening here.

95 Points - Wine Enthusiast

Warm is the first word we think of with Toulouse, and for lots of reasons. In this vintage, warm earth shouts from my glass. And, of course, we have nothing but warm feelings for our long time grower Vern Boltz. Warm brings to mind approachable, and this vintage surely is.

In the mid 1990s Nancy Winn and Chuck Kensler retired and moved from Palo Alto to bucolic western Sonoma County, among old Apple orchards and Chestnut groves, just 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean. They met Jim Pratt and took a community college winegrowing class from him, deciding to grow grapes on the sloping hill of their Green Valley home, named after the sun refractions that cause a beautiful light display (although we’ve also heard that Sundawg was Chuck’s nickname in his surfing days). Planted exclusively to Pinot Noir in 2000, the vineyard sits above the morning fog line and is just reaching its prime, producing distinctive fruit that lingers on the vine and develops great depth of flavor.