Current Releases

Double Gold Best of Class Sunset Magazine Wine Competition

Hoot Owl Creek Vineyards is a family business started in 2007 by Clay Green and Alison Green Doran, using grapes from their parent’s Hoot Owl Creek Ranch.

2017 Cabernet Sauvignon was grown on the Hoot Owl Creek Ranch in southern Alexander Valley. Clone 337 on 110R

Planted in 2001 by Clay Green.
Elevation about 700 ft above the valley floor with a southwest facing slope.
Gravelly shale in red volcanic soil

Harvest info: October 12, 2017 (4 days after fire started)

Harvested 4.9 tons
26.4 Brix
3.78 pH, 0.43 TA, 1.4 Malic YAN, 151
Aged in 66% new French oak, 33% Remond Ailliers and 33%Center bbls  for 18 months

Finished wine info

Alc 14.98%, pH 3.87, TA 0.64, VA 0.082, GF 1.36 g/L, MA 0.06

Tasting notes:

Tasted 6/7/24.  Aromas of deep bittersweet chocolate, toasted almond, and opening to jammy blackberry and mocha.   Palate is ripe and dense, with tightly wound French oak in the center, but generous and easy going on the finish. Evens out as it opens, with lots of flavor popping out, black cherry, black berry, and again toasted almond and dark chocolate.

Double Gold Best of Class Sunset Magazine Wine Competition

Hoot Owl Creek Vineyards is a family business started in 2007 by Clay Green and Alison Green Doran, using grapes from their parent’s Hoot Owl Creek Ranch.
2016 Cabernet Sauvignon was grown on the Hoot Owl Creek Ranch in southern Alexander Valley. Clone 337 on 110R,  Planted in 2001 by Clay Green.
Elevation about 700 ft above the valley floor with a southwest facing slope.  Gravelly shale in red volcanic soil

Harvest info: October 6, 2016
                Harvested 5.1875 tons
25.9 Brix
3.79 pH, 0.43 TA, 1.8 Malic YAN, 151
Aged in 50% new French oak, 30% Remond Ailliers and 30%Center bbls  for 18 months

Finished wine info
                Alc 15.1%, pH 3.81, TA 0.67, VA 0.07, GF 3.0 g/L, MA 0.06

Weather and growing season
2016 was the fifth year of the drought, though Sonoma County had almost an average rain year in 2016. 50% Budbreak 3/28, 50% bloom May 16, Veraison 7/27. There were late rains into June, with hot spells and mildew pressure throughout the summer. The roller coaster changed a little with fog starting in August and heavy fog in September , then the rains started Oct 14. Because of the early start, the grapes matured nicely by early October.

Winemaking:
3 days cold soak  then warmed to 86o and inoculated with VQ51 yeast – 15 days on skins, pressed at dryness ( and put to bbl after inoculation with ML. Finished ML late
Bottled 6/22/18  198 cases

Tasting notes:
Aromas of ripe plum and roasted chestnuts, with mocha and a hint of violets as it opens.
Palate is ripe, deep and smooth, with a lovely balance of ripeness and freshness. Plum and hazelnut flavors and a touch of sweet paprika

91 Points
~Robert Parker

Gold Medal
~2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
Double Gold Medal
~Sunset Magazine 2020

The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon is grown on the Hoot Owl Creek Ranch in southern Alexander Valley. It was planted in 2001 by Clay Green, and is clone 337 on 110R rootstock. The elevation is around 700 ft above the valley floor, on a southwest facing slope. The soil is gravelly shale in red volcanic soil.

Harvest info:
September 29, 2015
Harvested 4.4 tons + 0.22 tons of Malbec (4.2%).
25.6 brix
3.73 pH, 0.44 TA, 1.4 Malic YAN, 152
Aged in 63% new French oak for 18 months.
292 cases produced

Weather and growing season:
2015 was the fourth year of the drought, though Sonoma County had an almost average rain year in 2015. 50% budbreak happened by March 31, 50% bloom on May 9, and veraison happened. Continual roller coaster for weather, then moderately cool August and Sept. Low yields made for a fairly early harvest and concentrated flavors.

Winemaking
Crushed and put to a 3-day cold soak, then on day 4 warmed and inoculated with VQ51 yeast. It then had a long primary fermentation of 15 days on skins, and was pressed at dryness. Next came inoculation with ML. It finished ML in mid-Dec and was racked. Overall, it was racked 3 times during aging. 1.56 NTU after last racking, so bottled with Velcorin only.

Tasting notes:
Big jammy nose offers plum and boysenberry aromas with caramel and cassis filling in as it opens up.
Rich, centered palate with sweet oak, some black olive, and soft jammy cassis fruit covering a nice core of ripe tannins.

2013 Cabernet Sauvignon was grown on the Hoot Owl Creek Ranch in southern Alexander Valley. Clone 337 on 110R
Planted in 2001 by Clay Green
Elevation about 700 ft above the valley floor with a southwest facing slope.
Gravelly shale in red volcanic soil
Harvest info : Oct 9 crushed at Murphy Family/Rack and Riddle

Harvested 4.58 tons – very nice consistent quality
27.2 Brix (27.2 in the tank)
3.81 pH, 0.44 TA, 2.06 Malic

60% new oak
2 – 13 Remond A MTL+ barrels (15% new French oak)
2 – 13 Remond C MTL+ barrels (15% new French oak)
4 – 13 Radoux Appalachian (30% new American oak)
Finished ML by Dec 9,2013, PMR and back to bbl, racked and returned to barrel in May, 2014

Finished wine info , bottled through 0.45 at Laird May 28, 2015. 306 cases produced

Alc  14.14
3.75 pH, 0.56 TA (0.055 VA, 2.29 g/L GF)

Tasting Notes: 
Nose( Had to open a bit) warm ripe berry and cassis, with interesting background spicy notes of crushed coriander seed and violets.
Palate) easy, graceful and ripe, showing plum and blackberry flavors. Warm inviting center reinforced by dignified Remond oak  leading to a long velvety finish. Still young, but opens nicely after about 5 minutes

Our 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon was grown on the Hoot Owl Creek Ranch in southern Alexander Valley. Clone 337 on 110R, planted in 2001 by Clay Green.
Elevation is about 700 ft above the valley floor, with a southwest facing slope.
Soil composition: Gravelly shale in red volcanic soil

Harvest info:
October 29, 2012
Harvested 6.0195 tons + 0.56 tons new Malbec block
23 brix
3.80 pH, 0.35 TA, 1.4 Malic

Weather and growing season
2012 overall was a wonderful growing year, with bud break at 50% on April 17th, and bloom at 50% on May 26th.  A hot spell arrived in late September, and a few leaves were crisped but no shrivel or sunburn on the fruit was seen.  We had 23* brix on October 3rd, with the color deepening rapidly, and berries giving off aromatics of some lovely spices.

Tasting notes (tasted 2/12/16)
Mocha and blackberry aromas emerge first, with a darker cassis quality following on the heels. The palate is still young and bouncy, with deep black cherry and cassis flavors swirling around a core of ripe tannins and nice acidity. The finish tapers off with ripe blackberry and toasty caramel.

This 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon is grown from Clone 337 on 110R Elevation, at about 700 feet above the valley floor, with a southwest facing slope. Gravelly shale in red volcanic soil.

Winemaking
After the grapes arrived we crushed them with American Oak toasted powder and Ferm color to reduce laccase and grassy notes. The next day, the must was inoculated with VQ51, and the top smelled pretty good, By the next day, the color looked very nice, so we warmed it up and started fermentation. Pumpovers were gentle, mostly by sprinkler, two times a day for a week and then one time a day for another week. The temperature never really reached more than 80o in the little opentop tank, but it finished up fermentation nicely and went right to barrel dry. The wine was pressed and put to barrel (30% new Remond Aillier barrels, 20% new Radoux Appalachian) to go through Malo-lactic fermentation. Then it was racked and put back to barrel. It was racked 3 more times during its aging period, then bottled May 31, 2013, 210cs.

Tasting notes
This young wine’s nose is reliably fruity, displaying light berry and some cherry notes, all with the toasty oak spice component supporting the fruit. The palate is mid-weight with surprising strength in the center, giving a strong character to this balanced, easy-drinking Alexander Valley Cabernet.