Freestone and Occidental – ripening on the edge

'The edge', Duncan Arnot Meyers tells me, ‘is where you get more detail. The fabric gets woven tighter.’ Meyers is explaining how he views the effects of a cool climate on grape development. For Meyers, and his Arnot-Roberts winery partner Nathan Roberts, grapes grown at the edge of ripening are more desirable. ‘In a cooler site', Meyers explains, ‘you’re actually going to have more colour concentration, and more flavour concentration.’ For winemakers focused on the West Sonoma Coast, what draws them is the flavour concentration...