Varner

No fuss, no drama might be the motto of twins Bob and Jim Varner and their eponymous winery tucked away in the Portola Valley. They’ve been planting vines there since the early eighties and receiving critical acclaim for just as long. Their techniques are simple, plant the best clones you can get, dry farm unfertilised impoverished soils and use no chemicals – they have insect controls rather than insecticide and hoe by hand instead of chemically cleansing their vineyards with soil deadening chemical blitzkriegs. In the winery things are just as manual and minimalist, only grape borne yeast is used, light clarification of juice and hand racking. We’re straying dangerously towards natural wine here – except that the Varner’s wines are both finished and taste superb.