Two Blondes Vineyard

I was so absolutely, unbelievably psyched to find out I was going to Chris Camarda's Two Blondes Vineyard. First of all, because the wines that Chris crafts from this special plot of land are incredible. Second, because my very good friend Elizabeth identified the Andrew Will Two Blondes Vineyard in the blind tasting portion of her Certified Specialist of Wine exam. We arrived at Two Blondes a little early & found Chris & a few of his vineyard workers quite busy. As I stepped out of our charter bus I instantly could tell how different this place was. We were quite high in elevation which made it one of the warmest sites we had been to all week. The wind kept up a fairly consistent pace as it whipped around us. Chris led us through a few different blocks of vines including a parcel that had been destroyed by a sandstorm just a week prior. It was startling to see vines that had been stripped bare of everything but a few grape clusters. An audible gasp escaped my mouth when I first walked into a particularly bare row. Chris described how scary it was to first pull up to the vineyard after the storm. This plot of land has been somewhat of a battle for Chris & his crew. After describing the aftermath of the storm he went on to discuss how he has had to replant Two Blondes TWICE! One time was to re-orient part of it to exacerbate airflow & prevent sunburn. As he was detailing these trials we sipped on the '07 Two Blondes. Knowing all the info that Chris just shared with us I just thought "damn! The good stuff doesn't come easy at all!" Chris could have given up on this plot of land but he truly believed that this place would yield something special. It was shocking to taste how expressive this wine was. Especially given the fact that the vines were so young. I love this wine now but I can't imagine how much better they will continue to get as the vines age.