Wirz Vineyard Riesling
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2028
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Spicy Thai curry, roasted pork belly, fresh oysters
✨ Technical Specifications
Bedrock Wine Co.'s Wirz Vineyard Riesling is a remarkable testament to California's unsung viticultural history, sourced from own-rooted, head-trained Riesling vines planted in 1964 by the Wirz family. Located in the remote Cienega Valley of San Benito County, this high-altitude vineyard sits on a unique patch of limestone and decomposed granite soils directly influenced by the San Andreas Fault. Dry-farmed in a desert-like climate with dramatic diurnal temperature shifts, these ancient vines yield fruit of incredible concentration and electric acidity. Winemaker Morgan Twain-Peterson MW preserves this singular terroir through minimal-intervention winemaking, utilizing whole-cluster pressing and native yeast fermentation in neutral vessels. The resulting wine is bone-dry, intensely mineral, and structurally complex, offering vibrant citrus, white flower, and wet-stone notes that evolve beautifully over time.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 2007 by Morgan Twain-Peterson MW—later joined by partner Chris Cottrell—Bedrock Wine Co. began in a converted chicken coop with an urgent viticultural ethos: preserving California's precious heritage vineyards. The winery works closely with ancient, multi-varietal field blends across diverse terroirs, including volcanic, alluvium, granitic, and decomposed limestone parcels spanning Sonoma Valley, Contra Costa County, and the Central Coast. Central to the estate's identity is the historic Bedrock Vineyard, originally planted in 1854, which achieved Regenerative Organic Certification. Bedrock champions dry farming, minimal intervention, and historic head-trained vines. In the cellar, Twain-Peterson employs spontaneous native yeast fermentation, whole-cluster inclusions, and neutral wood, studiously avoiding chemical adjustments or excessive extraction. Beyond its legendary red heritage bottlings, Bedrock crafts benchmark whites and rosés—including the perfumed Compagni Portis Heirloom White, crystalline Wirz Vineyard Riesling, and artisanal expressions of Bien Nacido Chardonnay and Ode to Lulu Rosé—each presenting remarkable tension, saline minerality, and profound historic authenticity.