In celebration of Father's Day, we are opening a small library release of the 2017 The Estate, only the second vintage we ever made from the ELLMAN Estate Vineyard. It comes from the earliest chapter of our story, a time when we were still learning what this land could become, and it remains one of the wines we are most proud to have made.

Even in those first years, the prized block at the heart of the estate revealed itself almost immediately. While the rest of the vineyard was still finding its footing, this single corner overdelivered vintage after vintage. It became the foundation of The Estate bottling, and it remains so today. The 2017 was early proof of everything that block would go on to do.

The 2017 season asked a great deal of us. Heavy winter and spring rains gave way to a punishing run of summer heat, peaking at 112 degrees just before harvest. Yields fell, and careful selection in the vineyard became everything. What survived that season made it into the bottle on merit alone. A wine of real structure and presence, drawn entirely from estate fruit and aged in 80% new French oak.

We set these bottles aside years ago and have watched over them since, letting time do its work. What showed promise in its youth has grown into something whole, and releasing it now, for this occasion, means a great deal to us.

The 2017 The Estate is a wine made by family, in the early days of building something meant to last. It carries the patience and the long view that fatherhood teaches, the belief that the best things are worth waiting for and worth passing down. With only five cases remaining, this is among the last of it left anywhere, including our own cellar.

Released for Father's Day as a gesture of gratitude and continuity. A wine shaped by family, and meant to be shared within it.