Newsletter archive

Read back through the vintages.

Each newsletter goes out to club members with the release list, my notes on the wines, and news from the estate. They are all here, free to download — the earliest from Spring 2015. Every issue opens as a PDF in a new tab.

Fall 2025

The 30th Loxton harvest begins in September fog, and this issue turns its attention to the animals that share the vineyard.

6 pages·PDF·13.7 MB

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Spring 2025

Watching the Los Angeles fires from Sonoma, a 37% insurance rise, and farming the estate against fire and drought.

6 pages·PDF·21.3 MB

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Spring 2024

Green hills and mustard flower are the picture of a Sonoma spring, but the vineyard is mown short to let frost drain away.

6 pages·PDF·3.4 MB

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Fall 2023

One of the latest harvests in years: three weeks behind, an El Nino forecast, and fruit dropped to beat the rain.

6 pages·PDF·5.8 MB

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Spring 2023

Twenty inches of rain in a fortnight, and why no-till cover crops kept the soil where it belongs. Plus an OpenTable Diners Choice win.

6 pages·PDF·3.4 MB

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Fall 2022

A 27th harvest upended by eight days above 100 degrees, with record county temperatures and no guide book to follow.

6 pages·PDF·4.4 MB

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Spring 2022

Pruning early in a dry, warm winter, and why it takes a whole crew rather than two people to keep bud break even.

12 pages·PDF·3.0 MB

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Fall 2021

Twenty-five years on from the first Loxton wine, a tribute to the father who taught him to grow grapes.

11 pages·PDF·2.7 MB

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Spring 2021

Spring work in the vineyard, a trip to Australia lost to quarantine, and no 2020 Chardonnay or Pinot after the smoke.

11 pages·PDF·3.3 MB

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Fall 2020

The 25th vintage begins, alongside the reminder that his father retired at 85 with nearly seventy harvests behind him.

11 pages·PDF·2.6 MB

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Spring 2020

Australian bushfires seen up close in the Adelaide Hills, and what the industry is learning about weather extremes.

10 pages·PDF·2.5 MB

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Fall 2019

However ready the winery is, the grapes decide. Plans undone again as the first Estate Viognier pick arrives.

10 pages·PDF·2.7 MB

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Spring 2019

Impatient for the new season, he takes in a South Australian harvest with his father and the community of growers around it.

10 pages·PDF·2.6 MB

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Fall 2018

After the brutal heat of 2017, a mild harvest worth waiting for, and new houses rising on Dunbar Road after the fires.

10 pages·PDF·2.4 MB

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Spring 2018

The hills turn green again after the fires, and 40,000 daffodil bulbs go in along Dunbar Road with the community.

11 pages·PDF·2.7 MB

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Fall 2017

The 2017 harvest is dedicated to Chris's father, Bob, who retired at eighty-five.

9 pages·PDF·4.3 MB

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Spring 2017

After five dry years, so much rain that pruning stalls. A welcome problem, mostly.

10 pages·PDF·4.0 MB

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Fall 2016

A 21st harvest starting on September 1st, and the thought that the only constant in winemaking is change.

11 pages·PDF·2.4 MB

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Spring 2016

Bare vines show their shapes, the best moment to judge last summer's canopy work before pruning closes in March.

9 pages·PDF·2.0 MB

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Fall 2015

One of the earliest harvests on record, with drought cutting yields by up to half, and old vines earning their keep.

10 pages·PDF·1.7 MB

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Spring 2015

A new format for the newsletter, and the first Pioneer Cuvee, a Zinfandel blend in the old field-blend tradition.

9 pages·PDF·840 KB

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21 issues, Spring 2015 – Fall 2025. Files open in a new tab; sizes are shown so you know what you are downloading.