Each block at Pisoni essentially has its own microclimate. But it turns out that the soil here varies just as much as the terrain does. “Most of the appellation contains one or two soil types,” Jeff notes. At Pisoni, however, a confluence of geological factors has created more than half a dozen soil types. Wendell Berry states in his landmark 1977 book about culture and agriculture in the US, that “the soil of any one place makes its own peculiar and inevitable sense.” But at Pisoni, the soil is so varied that the family needs to keep in mind that their land does not express one essential character, but a distinct range of fundamental characteristics. All this variability means, as Mark explains, that “we’re not farming one vineyard, but ten to fifteen.”

But with that challenge comes the possibility of finding just the right soil and terrain for the different wines the family crafts. Mark and Jeff select the ridge tops for Pisoni Estate Pinot Noir because the tough soil on these slopes forces the vines to dig deep and to produce fruit of great intensity and concentration. The 2024 vintage, in particular, possesses what Virginie Boone from JebDunnuck.com calls an exceptionally “finely tuned structure.” The family’s Estate Chardonnay, meanwhile, is tucked away in a tiny canyon where drafts of cold air settle over pocket of deep and gravelly soil. The result of this happy combination for the 2024 vintage is a wine that Billy Norris of Vinous describes as “massively complex and utterly delicious.”

For both Mark and Jeff, farming at Pisoni is demanding, occasionally trying, but always gratifying. Yet with each and every passing year, come wines that communicate, each in its own way, something of the unique spirit of their beautiful home place.