One of the most difficult decisions when beginning our vineyard adventure in 2012 was deciding which varieties to plant. We gathered as much information as possible, sought expert advice, and ordered vines accordingly. In April of 2013 we planted 1325 vines in 5 zones and left room for future expansion of up to 5 more zones. After 7 seasons the vines and wines have spoken: Cabernet Franc is a clear winner! The vines grow well on our site and Lost Oak Winery has produced award-winning wines from every vintage.
We’re pleased to report that in 2020 we’ll be planting 725 Cabernet Franc vines. A few will replace vines in the existing zones/blocks that were lost to disease over the past seasons but the majority will be to increase our overall production. One new zone of 5 rows will be added, and one existing zone (7 rows) of Cabernet Sauvignon will be replaced with Cabernet Franc. After several years of struggling to control the size of the Cabernet Sauvignon vines and bring the fruit to full maturity before the fall rains we have decided to remove them and replace them with Cabernet Franc.
We still have room for one more zone for a future expansion which will most likely be in 2022. Our test vines of Syrah performed well this season and if the trend continues in 2020 they will be the winners for our final frontier.
