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 | The Stone Corral
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Stone Corral Vineyard is a unique venture developed with Talley Vineyards, Stephen Ross Cellars and Kynsi Winery. Careful planning went into the layout of the vineyard, where six to eight foot deep pits were dug to analyze soil profile over the diverse terrain. The soils are marine in origin with many fossils and are very well drained. It has varying soil types, including sand, sandy loam, loamy sand, pebbly clay loam, all fine angular blocky. Many areas have underlying decomposing sandstone layers. Low vigor rootstocks were selected for each specific soild profile; 101-14, 3309 and 1616C. The philosophy of using low vigor is to subdue vegetative growth and fruit set so more energy goes into a lighter crop load for more complex flavors. Three French Dijon clones 667, 777 and 115 were chosen as well as 2A (Wadenswil) a clone from Switzerland. A significant portion of the 2A came from cuttings off the Talley's Rosemary Vineyard.
The origin of the name Stone Corral goes back to San Luis Obispo's mission days in the late 1700's. The temperate climate of the Edna Valley with average rainfall of 24 inches and maritime influence with foggy mornings and warm afternoons produced lush grazing lands for Mission de la Tolosa's vast cattle herds. The mission Indians constructed a large, circular corral made of stacked stones for use in handling their cattle and for thrashing grain. The stone corral was located between two creeks in the heart of the Edna Valley. When the mission lands were divided into ranchos during the early 1800's, the land in the Edna Valley became part of the 30,911 acre Ranch Corral de Piedra. The English translation is Stone Corral Ranch.
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