For the story of how Josh selected the location for his vineyards and planted them, please see [History].

Wines from the Selleck Vineyard are usually the most complex and dense of the four single-vineyard pinot noirs made by Calera. Magnificently perfumed, full of the classic Burgundian entangled mysteries of cherry and plum, wild raspberry and blackberry, toast and cinnamon spice. The flavors are deep, with black fruits, spice and mint all present in these rich, full-bodied wines. The Selleck Vineyard is rockier and contains more limestone than the others; its wine seems to have the greatest aging potential.

The wines from this vineyard are open and appealing, with deliciously accessible aromas and flavors of blackberry, raspberry and strawberry jam. This vineyard produces wines of impeccable balance, rich, round and long-lived, sometimes developing with age to a thrilling combination of raspberry sauce richness, swished with the rasping perfume of leather.

Wines from the Reed Vineyard are forward and aromatic, showing a less dense style than Calera’s other single-vineyard pinots. Aromas of exotic wild raspberries, cherries and chocolate combine with savory fumes, and herbal notes of sassafras. Reed Vineyard wines are creamy and soft on the palate.

The 14.4 acre Mills Pinot Noir vineyard was planted in 1984, nine years after the original Calera plantings. The vineyard was named for Everett Mills, a neighbor and friend who made it his business to keep an eye on Josh’s progress during the early development years, in the hills south of Hollister. This vineyard was planted on its own roots using plant material from the original vineyards. The Mills vineyard is located between 2,200 and 2,300 feet above sea level on a gentle south-facing hillside that slopes down toward Harlan Creek.

Pinot noirs from the Mills Vineyard are characterized by a fragrant spicy, cedar-like aroma, with underlying cherry and red berry fruit. Flavors include plums, olives and bittersweet chocolate. The wines have a long finish showing broad round tannins.

Calera’s Mt. Harlan Viognier Vineyard produces benchmark wines. Very low yields make for concentrated, large scale wines. They are serious, and full-bodied, with intense, luscious honeysuckle and apricot fruit as well as an underlying mineral flavor.

The 6.1 acre Mt. Harlan Chardonnay Vineyard was planted in 1984 on the same south facing slope as the Mills Vineyard Pinot Noir. This vineyard was planted on its own roots using plant material from stray chardonnay vines that were found interspersed among the pinot vines of the original vineyards. Each year this vineyard yields only slightly more than 2 tons to the acre of very intense flavorful chardonnay fruit.

The wines produced from Calera’s Mt. Harlan Chardonnay Vineyard display a minerality that is much more typical to fine white Burgundy than to California chardonnay. A lemon scented aroma with abundant varietal character and hints of smoky oak are characteristic of wines from this vineyard. On the palate, a round, creamy texture and ripe citrus flavors are underscored by the minerality that arises from growing chardonnay on limestone soil.