Viking Estate Vineyard

The 16.5 acre Viking Vineyard is a true mountain site, located on the coastal influenced westside of Paso Robles, 14 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Sitting on an extremely steep, south facing shelf of limestone, the site presents a challenging environment for growing grapes. Planted to three varietials, it is the focus of our Bordeaux program, emphasizing cabernet sauvignon (13 acres), and cabernet franc (1.5 acres) plus a unique small block of northern Rhône sourced syrah (2 acres). The original vines date back to 1991. Vine spacing is the tightest of all seven Adelaida Vineyards; 4 feet between vines and 8 feet between rows, 1361 vines/acre. Cabernet yields average 2 – 2.5 tons/acre, while the syrah struggles to reach 1 – 1.5 tons/acre.

Upper Viking Estate Vineyard

A further 9 acres of Bordeaux varietals were installed on a separate site in 2007, coming online in 2012. Grafted onto lime tolerant rootstock, the vines are drip irrigated and trained to a vertical shoot positioning system.

Both Viking Estate Vineyards vary between 1,400 and 1,695 feet, these late ripening vines receive the full arc of the sun while keeping their crisp mountain fruit character, a function of elevation and the dramatic 40-50 degree afternoon cool down brought by the intrusion of the marine air flow.