Thorn Ridge Vineyard

Along with their legendary Klopp Ranch Vineyard, Ted Klopp and his daughter, Lauren Klopp Williams, farm Thorn Ridge Vineyard. Katy was introduced to Ted and Lauren in 2013 through Wayne and Nancy Hunnicutt (owners of the Emmaline Ann Vineyard) and in 2014, we produced our first wine from this exceptional vineyard.

The unique east-facing orientation of Thorn Ridge enjoys ample morning sun resulting in a richer palate that stands out in the LaRue lineup. This wine is more rustic and has a darker fruit profile than our other Pinot Noir vineyards – with notes of blackberry and black cherry. While bolder in style, we still maintain a lower alcohol by harvesting at a fairly low brix. 

It is a steep eastern-facing sloped vineyard planted on Goldridge sandy loam soils. We work with two blocks that were planted in 1996 to Pommard and 115 clones. Thorn Ridge is located just west of the town of Sebastopol where a heavy marine influence gives notes of dark fruit integrated with spicy undertones to the wine.