The Vineyards: Mendocino County

Mention the name Mendocino, and the town of that name, perched sleepily on the sandstone cliffs above the Pacific Ocean, quickly springs to mind, and with it the associated mild-to-cool temperatures, most unlikely to warrant the need for air conditioning. Yet the oldest and most prominent vineyards of Mendocino County lie considerably inland, sufficiently shielded by successive ridges of rugged 2,000-3,000" coastal hills, that the cooling influence of the sea is largely cut off. The old-timers in Mendocino County, in the days before market trends became so prominent, planted the varieties most likely to succeed in the warm, dry environs near the town of Ukiah: Zinfandel, Carignan, Petite Sirah, and Grenache. These days you'll find precious little remaining from those plantings, amid all the newer fields of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Sangiovese. But every now and then you might, with a little intuition and a shot of blind luck, stumble onto something of interest. That's how we ended up in Mendocino County.

• Pallini Vineyard, Ukiah Valley

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