Aaron Pott (Mt. Veeder, Napa Valley) and his wines show why they are the talk of the town

I recently had the pleasure of tasting a selection of Aaron Pott wines at an Alfond-Inn event organized and hosted by his Florida Distributor, Terroir Selections. Pott, numbered among the most respected American winemakers, and a winemaking consultant of some repute, easily and effectively led us through the highlights of his career, grapegrowing and winemaking philosophies and practices, and a tasting of the wines. I report on that tasting in this post.

Pott, proprietor, along with his wife Claire, of Pott Wine, possesses one of the most well-balanced resumes of any US winemaker alive today. He holds to a strong conviction that the best Napa wines made were those produced during the 1970s and early 1980s and that winemakers have lost their way since. His goal is to make wines akin to those wines of yore.

The charts below show the wealth of experience, expertise, and customers that Pott has accumulated over the years and that have served to inform his venture at Pott Wine.

Table 1. Partial list of Huis Clos former and current consulting clients

Fisher Vineyards	Seven Stones	Perliss
Krupp Brothers	St Helena Winery	Somnium
Quixote Winery	Adler Deutsch Vineyard	AErena Wines
Blackbird Winery	Greer Wine	Resolute Wines
Bello Family Vineyard	Martin Estate	¿Como No?

Pott bottles a total of eight wines, sourcing grapes from the estate (three labels) and purchased fruit from Napa Valley vineyards that meet his specific requirements. The various fruit sources are shown in the figure below.

In his presentation Pott was lighthearted, informative, and comfortable in his own skin. In responding to a question on farming practices, he described himself as a defrocked biodynamic farmer in that the vineyards are farmed organically but he also uses a number of biodynamic techniques. He loves Cabernet Franc -- thinks it is one of the most alluring of the Bordeaux varietals -- but it is tough to find good sites for Cabernet Franc in Napa. His property is on the flank of a volcano: buds out earlier than most and is much cooler in the summertime.

As regards winemaking, the Viognier, the estate's only white wine, is hand-picked and whole-cluster pressed. The grapes are fermented (using indigenous yeasts) and aged in Italian terra cotta amphorae which were hand-crafted in Tuscany by the Manetti family.

All of the red wines are treated similarly except for the duration of the post-fermentation maceration.Grapes are hand-picked and placed into small baskets for transport to the cellar. Once there, they are de-stemmed, selected, optical-sorted, selected and then placed into small bins which are transported by fork lift to open-top fermenters. The grapes are gravity-fed into those containers. Fermentation is facilitated by indigenous yeasts, with manual punchdowns of the caps during the process. After a 30- to 45-day post-fermentation maceration, the wine is gravity-drained to French oak barrels for aging.

And now, the wines.

The 2018 Pott 20 m3 Viognier Estate Chateauneuf du Pott shows apricot, green herbs, and restrained Viognier florals on the nose. Rich and creamy on the palate with yellow fruit and a heavy, lingering minerality. Good acid level and a bitter finish.

The 2017 Pott Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was constructed from the wine remaining after all of the estate and single-vineyard wines have been made. There is a lot of Cabernet Franc and Merlot in this wine. In 2017 they experienced single-digit humidity in the vineyards and the Merlot became dehydrated and minty so was placed into this wine. Red fruit, chocolate, and mint on the nose and lean red fruit on the palate. Smooth tannins.

The 2017 Pott Kaliholmanok Kicu'me/Ballard Vineyard Spring Mountain Napa Valley showed plum, blackcurrant, herbs, bell pepper, chocolate, mint, cedar, and fudge on the nose. Lean, but not austere, on the palate with blueberries, and mint chocolate. Lenghty, balanced finish.

The site in Stags Leap from whence the 2017 Pott Actaeon Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced is unusual in that AVA in that it is from an east-facing, hillside vineyard. In addition, the diurnal temperature variation can be as much as 70 degrees. These two factors combine to ensure good acid retention in the finished wine. This wine was elegant. Black and red fruit and tobacco on the nose. Balanced on the palate with a hint of iron. Round, full, and creamy with good acidity.

The 2017 Pott Space and Time is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon which is aged in 50% new and 50% 2-year-old French oak and is only racked once during the 18 - 20-month aging period. Violets, jasmine, and dark fruit on the nose. Medium-bodied with silky tannins. Balanced.

The final wine in the lineup was the 2017 Pott Incubo Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon with the remainder Cabernet Franc. Rust, intense dark fruit, violets and herbs on the nose. Creamy, with palate-coating richness. Lengthy finish.

This was an excellent tasting with the wines showing well and the winemaker more than living up to expectations in terms of expertise and knowledge-dissemination.


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