Carignane can make such an interesting wine - but it probably won’t be one that ‘the masses’ will be drawn to. It’s also a variety that needs a bit more of a ‘lighter’ hand in order to bring out the wonderful nuance the grape offers - and as we know with other varieties, that’s not always done by winemakers . . .
I do love some of these older vine versions of the grape - thanks Drew for keeping this thread rolling along!
Larry, I assure you that my interests are completely selfish! 
In all seriousness, wouldn’t the qualifications you stated apply equally to Pinot Noir? I mean, there’s a lot of nasty Pinot out there, but people seem to give up on Carignane much faster…
Larry, where - if I may ask - are you getting your Carignane from for the initial Tercero bottling?
You would think, Drew, but as you probably have seen in other threads about winemakers who ‘specialize’ in one variety working with others, there is a tendency to use similar techniques, even though the varieties might be better served with completely other techniques . . .
Cheers!
From a SB County vineyard planted wayyyyyyyy back - in 1999 or so 
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
Cheers!
Just off the top of my head, Colombini Vineyard in Redwood Valley is another one. Both Ranchero and Villa Creek in Paso Robles have sourced Carignane from there. Supposed to be 90-year old head-trained vines.
How about Hawkeye Ranch, Poor Ranch & Trimble Vineyard, the first is Redwood Valley, not sure if there is a sub AVA for the other two but they were all planted between 1940 & 1970?
The Colombini Family (Don and his son Darrin) farms both the Cemetery Vineyard in Ukiah and the Rovera Vineyard (which I’ve sometimes called Road I) in Redwood Valley. Cemetery is 1954, Rovera 1942. Another one for your list is the Ricetti Vineyard in Redwood Valley, farmed by Tom and Pam Ricetti on the corner of East road and Road I, planted progressively from 1939 to the late 1940’s. There is another Ricetti Carignane vineyard further up Road I, farmed by Tom’s brother–not sure of his name.
Good to see you on the board here, Rory, and thanks for the info. For those who don’t know, Rory makes Carignane (and Carignane Rosé) for his Calder Wine Company label.
Thanks, Rory!
It’s a challenge keeping up with all these Italian names, and I am unable to locate any accurate vineyard maps of Mendocino County. I will update the list soon. 
Update:
I most graciously welcome any and all offers of help, be they corrections, updates, anecdotes, etc.
Redwood Valley
• Alvin Tollini - Niemi Vineyard
• Maria Testa Martinson - Gusto Vineyard
• Pete Johnson - Hawkeye Ranch
• Randy Dorn - Redwood Valley Juice Co.
• Steve Noble Ledson - Bald Hills Ranch
• Robert Stephenson - Hidden Hawk Vineyard
• Greg Graziano - Vincenzo Vineyard
• Jose Castanon - Castanon Vineyard
• Chevalier(?) - Casa Verde
• Mary Louise Chase - Chase Vineyards
Ukiah
• Tim Norgard - Holliday Ranch
• Venturi* - I-Road, Cemetery Vineyard
• Tia Satterwhite - Rosewood
• John Chiarito - Lover’s Lane
• Maria Testa Martinson - Testa Ranch
• Wendy Fetzer - Feliz Creek
• Bartolomei Brother - Bartolomei
• Dennis Patton - DnA
• Nancy Baltins - Caballo Blanco
Mendocino (elsewhere):
• Susan Poor - Poor Family Ranch
• Rick Trimble - Trimble Vineyards
• Frank Rebottaro - Rebotarro
• Jim McCutchen - McCutchen
…to be continued.
I have sent an email to the Mendocino Wine website for additional help.
I will add to the list as I gather more information…
Ms Bernadette Byrne at the Mendocino Winegrowers was kind enough to send me an attachment of the “2015 Vineyard Directory”, which provides a good breakdown of the vineyards by region and grapes grown in the different AVA’s of the county. Suddenly, this mini-project is much easier.
To retouch the point of my efforts, I originally fell in love with the wines of Fife Cellars in my early retail days. Among the grapes included in the wines was Carignane. When Fife disappeared, so did retail bottlings of Carignane-based wine from California.
The varieties that went into wines were all more or less on equal standing in my mind, as I lacked a strong scale of reference between the wines on the sales racks - aside from the most elementary of understandings (primarily based on the cost of bottles from certain region’s). I went from inexpensive Bardolino and Valpolicello to Chianti Classico Riserva, to Beaucastel and Californian Zin and Rhône varieties.
Anyway, I ended up spending years in the pursuit of unusual, hard-to-get bottles of Mourvedre, Carignane, and Zinfandel for the store. Louisiana retail wine shops were trapped in the channels of a three-tier system. I rarely got my hands on an obscure bottle of small-production wine. Carignane bottlings are almost impossible to locate in this kind of world. Aside from the French, Australian, and Californian GSM-blends, I was lucky to to stock a case of Bonny Doon “Old Telegram” (Contra Costa Mourvedre) or Cline Cellars “Small Berry” Mourvedre.
No 100% Carignan for the shop, alas.
When I got reacquainted with wine, I started to order online from mailing lists. I felt a near-spiritual experience when I tasted the Idlewild Mendocino County “Testa Ranch” Carignane! 
An entire region of California reappeared on my wine radar, and I ventured out to try more of my favorite grapes outside of the Contra Costa region.
So, here we are. I have found that there is a lot of old-vine Carignane in Mendocino County, and I would like to better understand where the good stuff may be found.
Redwood Valley
• Alvin Tollini - Niemi Vineyard
• Maria Testa Martinson - Gusto Vineyard
• Pete Johnson - Hawkeye Ranch
• Randy Dorn - Redwood Valley Juice Co.
• Steve Noble Ledson - Bald Hills Ranch
• Robert Stephenson - Hidden Hawk Vineyard
• Greg Graziano - Vincenzo Vineyard
• Jose Castanon - Castanon Vineyard
• Chevalier(?) - Casa Verde
• Mary Louise Chase - Chase Vineyards
• Mercedes Locatelli-Warner - Charles Locatelli Vineyard
• Frey: Road D
• Dianne Rucker - Rucker Vineyards Redwood Valley
Ukiah
• Tim Norgard - Holliday Ranch
• Venturi* - I-Road, Cemetery Vineyard
• Tia Satterwhite - Rosewood
• John Chiarito - Lover’s Lane
• Maria Testa Martinson - Testa Ranch
• Wendy Fetzer - Feliz Creek
• Bartolomei Brother - Bartolomei
• Dennis Patton - DnA
• Nancy Baltins - Caballo Blanco
• Jim Bogner - Bogner Ranch
• Gary Venturi - Gary Venturi Vineyard
• Zac Robinson - Garzini Ranch
• Mike Manna - Manna Ranch McNab
• Debbie Pallini - Pallini Vineyards
Mendocino (elsewhere):
• Susan Poor - Poor Family Ranch
• Rick Trimble - Trimble Vineyards
• Frank Rebottaro - Rebotarro
• Jim McCutchen - McCutchen
…to be continued.
While there exists no “Mendocino Wine Heritage” thread on Wine Berserkers (yet!), I have an interest in sharing a few bits of information I have found in my search for content for the “Carignan Renaissance Part Deux” thread.
UC Cooperative Extension, Ukiah
“Viticulture & Enology” page:
“A Wine Growing Information compilation is available and useful for people contemplating planting a vineyard. This is a 314 page collection of articles and reprints including information of climate, soils, cost studies, vineyard training systems, varietal selections, frost protection, cover crops, and many other topics.”
UC Cooperative Extension, Ukiah
“The Vineyard Soils of Mendocino County”
• “Bearwallow Soil Info” (download)
• “Pinole Soil Info” (download)
• “Talmage Soil Info” (download)
• “Yokayo Soil Info” (download)
• “Boontling Soil Info” (download)
• “Feliz Soil Info” (download)
• “Redvine Soil Info” (download)
• “Wolfey Soil Info” (download)
Mendocino County Wine & Winegrapes
“Mendocino Wine Column” Profiles of Growers & Wineries
Articles:
Ukiah Daily Journal
“Bartolomei Vineyards: Living on the Land”
by Heidi Cusick Dickerson
November 21, 2010
"Bink Wines: “Dream Big, Act Now?”
by Heidi Cusick Dickerson
August 24, 2008
Ukiah Daily Journal
“Butow Vineyards: Passing It On”
by Heidi Cusick Dickerson
March 7, 2010
Ukiah Daily Journal
“Growing Market for Vineyards in Mendocino County”
by Sarah Reith
January 20, 2016
Ukiah Daily Journal
“Mariah Vineyards: an Island in the Sky”
by Heidi Cusick Dickerson
March 22, 2009
Ukiah Daily Journal
“McGourty’s Spirit Canyon Vineyard: Expert in the Vineyard”
by Heidi Cusick Dickerson
April 18, 2010
Ukiah Daily Journal
“Ukiah Declines to Support Ag Protection for Lovers Lane Vineyards”
by Justine Frederiksen
March 10, 2018
The following links are not necessarily related to “Mendocino Carignan and Red Wines”. Nevertheless, I needed a repository for cool articles on the region…
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
"Wine Producers & Blenders - California (Includes the Counties: Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kern, lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Monterey)"
TTB Register
May 13, 2018
Google Maps
“Mendocino Vineyards: Map of the Parcels Taxed as Vineyards in Mendocino County”
SF Gate
“Carignane Gets a Shot at Respect - Quietly: Old-vine Carignane Becomes a Source for Fashionable Wine”
by Jon Bonné
August 1, 2010
SF Gate
“The Little Appellation That Could: With Only 189 Acres, Cole Ranch is the Nation’s Tiniest AVA, Proving that Small Can be Beautiful”
by Jon Bonné
February 23, 2007
SF Gate
“The Vineyards of Potter Valley”
by Matt Villano
April 6, 2008
SF Gate
“Mendocino’s Potter Valley Makes Great Grapes”
by Dan Berger
July 12, 2009
Ukiah Daily Journal
“Mendocino Growers Showcase Grapes for Sale”
by Heidi Cusick Dickerson
July 4, 2010
"It might be surprising to some to learn that, depending on whom you ask, between 75 and 90 percent of the wine grapes grown in Mendocino County are shipped to wineries out of the county. The number of wineries has grown in the county in the last 20 years but most are small and there aren’t enough to make wine out of Mendocino grapes.
“While many growers have contracts with local wineries, there is still the need for many to find buyers for their crop. Forty of the 343 Mendocino vineyards were represented at the Mendocino County Growers Showcase…”
Ukiah Daily Journal
“Husch Vineyards: Home Sweet Husch”
by Heidi Cusick Dickerson
January 25, 2009
Ukiah Daily Journal
“Sun Hawk Farms: Solar Maestro’s Hillside Home and Vineyard”
by Heidi Cusick Dickerson
March 20, 2011
Mendocino County Wine & Winegrapes
“Paul Dolan: Rooted and Visionary”
by Heidi Cusick Dickerson
The AVA
“From Grapes to Wine, Part I”
by Marshall Newman
December 19, 2012
The AVA
“From Grapes to Wine, Part II”
by Marshall Newman
January 23, 2013
The AVA
“The Zeni Ranch”
by Robert Zeni
October 23, 2013
The AVA
“The Vineyards Of Redwood Valley”
by Darren Delmore
August 8, 2012
The AVA
“Vina Revisited”
by Bob Dempel
December 14, 2016
The AVA
“Mendo’s Biggest Wine Country Corporations”
by Will Parrish
September 10, 2010
The AVA
“Anderson Valley, Tentacle Of The Wine Grape Octopus”
by Will Parrish, January 27, 2011
Celebrations Wine Club
“Graziano Family of Wines – California Winery of the Month August 2012”
Reading, Writing & Wine
“Showcasing Diverse Single Vineyards with California’s Onward Wines”
by Isaac James Baker
May 11, 2017
California Fine Wineries
“Mendocino County Winery Map 2017-2018 Edition”
The following site is now reported as being defunct/non-existent:
http://www.mendocinorootsandridges.com/mendocino-county-wine-map.html
Our first 2016 Carignane is being released from the Poor Ranch in Hopland. This comes from the “Knoll” block high up on the mountain. This block of Carignane was planted in 1942 and is dry farmed,head pruned,and certified organic (CCOF)
Thanks for the picture and the information, Brian!!!
Here are a few articles about now-defunct Fife Vineyards, whose Mendocino Carignan-based & Rhône-style blends were pivotal in my early exploration of wine…
LA Times
“A Tale of Two Wineries, One Coming Up and the Other Coming Back”
by Dan Berger
July 21, 1988
Gold Medal Wine Club
“Fife Vineyards: Producing Prized Reds That Are Still Considered Among Napa’s Best”
Napa Valley Register
“Obituaries: Dennis P. Fife (1945-2016)”
June 6, 2016
While playing around on the MendoWine website, I found this great piece by Kelli White:
Mendocino County Wine & Winegrapes
“Making Sense of Mendocino (GuildSomm)”
by Kelli White - GuildSomm Senior Writer
Date?
