The Sierra Nevada Foothills are certainly not the first to spring to mind when thinking about Pinot Noir in California, and yet our "Home Vineyard" has proved to offer a remarkable if unlikely microclimate and soil combination for the successful production of a distinctive, expressive rendition of this variety. The Sierra Nevada Foothills are certainly not the first to spring to mind when thinking about Pinot Noir in California, and yet our "Home Vineyard" has proved to offer a remarkable if unlikely microclimate and soil combination for the successful production of a distinctive, expressive rendition of this variety. By now, the Home Vineyard - located in Oregon House, California (Yuba County) - is 2.5 acres in size, comprising forty-five hundred own-rooted Pinot Noir vines. It is planted on a gentle, well-drained, north-east facing slope at 1500-1600 ft altitude, in yellowish clay-loam topsoil on fractured granite and volcanic ash subsoil.