Viticultural Examinations

We seek common ground between nature and the farmer’s objectives to harness an unpredictable path. Our approach respects the land as a gift, or rather, an inheritance. Great care is taken on our part to farm sustainably, to replenish the environment in a natural way so that generations may enjoy the bounty for decades to come. We combine this approach to growing with a forward looking, winegrowing philosophy that encompasses the following:

We humbly and thoroughly respect the implications that terroir has on our approach to farming. We believe that each general growing region (Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley, Bordeaux, Tuscany, et cetera) has within it very specific macro and micro climates that ebb and flow from year to year – sometimes in minor variations, sometimes in dramatic variations. What we recognize, as an indisputable argument, is that Syrah, for example, planted in various sites throughout any given region is going to vary greatly in scope and characteristic – from the warm valley floors to the cool coastal plains, to the steep mountains, to the bench lands, and so forth. As such, defining Syrah as varietally typical across all world regions is a notion that must be challenged, for it is the environment of the site, or the terroir, that drives varietal character and ripeness of each varietal planted within a specific location. Thus, in our opinion, it is misguided to commit restraint within a specific growing environment to achieve manipulated varietal correctness. Rather, we choose to allow the vineyard to grow fruit to full maturity within each site, within each vintage. This non-invasive practice results in broad variances in varietal ripeness across all of our wine lots and their respective sub-regional influences. This practice also results in a variation of alcohol levels, from naturally restrained to highly expressive. As a result, our approach is without formula and grounded in the firm belief that allowing the potential of the site to produce its pure potential results in establishing the pedigree of the vineyard.

"I have always sought the unconventional path in my craft. Perhaps my want for exploration can be traced to my Scandinavian bloodline and the ancestral lineage of fearless frontiersmen. Marauder charters the unknown course in winemaking, breaking the mold of tradition, producing bold, uncommon wines "