How This Vineyard Became Part of Our Story

We just put our twenty sixth vintage of Syrah from the Fenaughty Vineyard to barrel. That means this wine has been part of our lives longer than our kids have! Carrie and I had only just met back in 1999 when she took delivery of her first truckload of grapes. Her parents Tom and Holly had hired Ron Mansfield of Gold Bud Farms to plant their vineyards. The three of them had decided to leap into the wine business, so it was natural to call on Ron for fruit.

How Fenaughty Became a Landmark

Ron had already carved out a legacy in El Dorado. In the seventies he planted grapes for Alfred Fenaughty in the heart of Apple Hill, wedged between Lava Cap and Lewis Grace wineries. The site had been a ranch and orchard, but pear blight and the return of wineries to El Dorado County were changing agriculture. Wine production had thrived during the Gold Rush, but prohibition shut it down completely. The Boeger family re-established the industry here in 1972 and growers like Ron pushed it into a new era.

Why Syrah Took Hold

Syrah had been in California for a long time, but it had not caught the attention of winemakers until Joseph Phelps began planting it in the eighties. Once Phelps made that move, Ron grafted over some own-rooted vines at Fenaughty to Syrah which made it the second oldest planting of the variety in the county. The Mansfield family has added more Syrah to the vineyard over the years, but these original old vines are what go into our wine.

The Winemaker Who Put Fenaughty on the Map

Steve Edmonds of Edmonds St. John helped shine a light on both Fenaughty and El Dorado County. He bottled Fenaughty Syrah and Wylie-Fenaughty Syrah beginning in the eighties to wide acclaim. If you have been with us for a while you may remember our own Wylie-Fenaughty bottling. The Wylie vineyard sits in Kelsey but has changed hands a few times and is no longer farmed by the Mansfields.

Same Elevation. Different Soils. Different Voices.

Fenaughty sits almost exactly at the same elevation as our estate vineyard, but the soils tell a very different story. Fenaughty carries the volcanic signature of Apple Hill which is why its neighbor is named Lava Cap. Fenaughty Syrah is more delicate with lifted floral aromatics and ripe but never over ripe fruit. Our estate Syrah tends to be firm with ripe fruit and a tannic frame that leans toward brick toned red fruits. The differences are like the famed Brune (brown) and Blonde (blond) hills of France’s Cote Rotie vineyards where one produces richer and the other more elegant wines. Same elevation. Different geology. Different personality.

How Tablas Creek Joined the Lineage

In 2000 we began adding more Rhone varieties to the Syrah already planted on our estate. Those cuttings came from Tablas Creek in Paso Robles. Tablas Creek was founded by the Perrin family of Beaucastel in France’s Rhone Valley and Robert Haas, their wine importer. Instead of relying on domestic nursery stock they took cuttings directly from their Chateauneuf du Pape vineyards. These are the vines now planted on our estate. At the same time, Ron was planting the same Tablas Creek material at Fenaughty.

Tablas Creek made a very smart choice by sharing these vines rather than keeping them for themselves. They understood these cuttings would act like apostles and help spread the Rhone wine movement across the United States.

A Full Circle Moment

Two decades later Tablas Creek is making both a red and a white blend from Fenaughty fruit as part of their Lineage program. We opened those wines with our staff at our holiday party. Carrie took a sip and agreed that you could taste the high elevation fruit with minerality and a conifer edge. It was fun to taste what Tablas Creek could do with El Dorado fruit and even more meaningful to taste a vineyard we love show a different side of itself through their hands.

Validation

Tablas Creek’s wines were a good validation. Fenaughty is a special site. We have known that for years.

Josh Bendick
Co-winemaker

A Note on the Vineyard Today
The Mansfield family now owns the Fenaughty Vineyard and it is currently farmed by Ron’s son, Chuck Mansfield.

Read the Tablas Creek Blog Post featuring Fenaughty here

Holly’s Hill Review from Wine Enthusiast Magazine:

2022 Holly’s Hill Fenaughty Syrah – 92 points
“This wine is deep, vibrant with aromas of Black currant compote, grilled orange slices, violet, and spiced vanilla cream on the nose. The flavors on the palate are Black cherry, Black plum, sweet cigar, orange cream with mineral, earth and grippy tannins. Decant for an hour and enjoy” — Tonya Pitts

Tablas Creek Reviews from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate:

2024 Lignée de Tablas Fenaughty Blanc – 91 points
“Produced from Tablas Creek cuttings planted at Fenaughty Vineyard in El Dorado at an altitude of 2,700 feet, the 2024 Lignée de Tablas marks the first Marsanne led blend made at Tablas Creek. The nose presents a round, stone fruit driven bouquet with alpine herbal freshness which leads into a lifted, tensile palate and finishes with oily power and persistent minerality. The wine is a blend of 39 percent Marsanne, 35 percent Grenache Blanc, 13 percent Bourboulenc and 13 percent Roussanne aged in neutral foudre.”

2023 Lignée de Tablas Fenaughty Rouge – 91 points
“Comprising 67 percent Grenache and 33 percent Mourvèdre, the 2023 Lignée de Tablas Fenaughty Rouge shows its high altitude origins with an alpine, herbal and mineral inflected bouquet. The palate sits between supple density and firm posture and finishes with brambly spice.”