Detert Family Vineyards: The least-heralded of the Collective To Kalon wines

The common ancestor of Detert Family Vineyards and Macdonald Vineyard was a plot hived of from the larger Stelling Oakville holdings in 1954.

Hedwig Detert -- the great-grandmother of the current managers of both entities -- purchased 50 acres of the To-Kalon Vineyard in 1954 from Caroline Stelling after Martin Stelling’s death in a 1950s automobile accident. Mrs Detert wanted to buy the house in the hills above the vineyard but was told that she would have to buy some land in addition for the deal to go forward (Remember that at his death, the Stelling estate had in excess of 2000 acres of land). Mrs. Hedwig agreed and named the purchase Detert Vineyards. The purchased property included the house, a 40-acre cherry orchard, and some planted grapevines.

Shortly after the purchase, Mrs Detert turned the vineyard over to her son (Gunther) and daughter and they have worked it since as two separate vineyards: Detert Family Vineyards and Macdonald Vineyard.

As was the case with Macdonald Vineyard, the early Detert grapes were sold to Charles Krug Winery and, when Robert left to form his own winery in 1966, Gunther Detert began selling grapes to Robert Mondavi Winery. Detert Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were used in Mondavi's first Reserve Cabernets.

In 1949, Martin Stelling had planted Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Johannisberg Riesling, and Chenin Blanc in the portion of his property that is now Detert Family Vineyard. The Cabernet Franc is the earliest known incidence of this variety in Napa Valley and is called the Detert Clone.

The construct of the Detert vineyard blocks are shown below.

In 1979 the East Block was replanted using cuttings from the original 1949 planting. The South Block was replanted to Clone 4 Cabernet Sauvignon in 1997. In 2015 the West Block was replanted to Cabernet Franc (Detert Clone, Clone 327) and Cabernet Sauvignon (Horton Clone, Clone 7).

The estate is farmed conventionally but is practicing organic and sustainable techniques. The Vineyard Manager is Michael Wolf who, in his career, has served as:

• Ranch Foreman, Mendocino Vineyard, Company
• Vice President Vineyard Operations, Juliana Vineyards (12 years)
• Vineyard Manager, Beckstoffer Vineyards (3 years)
• President, Emmolo Vineyard Management
• Founder, Michael Wolf Vineyard Services.

The first commercial Detert vintage was 160 cases of 2000 Cabernet Franc. The inaugural Cabernet Sauvignon vintage was released in 2002. The winery currently produces three wines: East Block Cabernet Franc (100% Cabernet Franc made entirely from East Block fruit), Cabernet Sauvignon (95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc), and Cabernet Franc (85% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon).

The Winemaker, and one of the three founders, is Tom Garrett. Tom started out as a cellar hand at Turley Wine Cellars in 1999 and has worked at Joseph Phelps, Robert Mondavi, Turley Wine Cellars, and Revana Family Vineyards, where he was the General Manager and Assistant Winemaker to Heidi Barrett.

I recently tasted 2019 editions of the estate's Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc wines. 

The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were fermented in 1- to 2.5-ton fermenters with 14-day maceration. Cap management was a mix of pump overs and punch downs. The wines were aged for 18 months in new (60%) French oak barrels.

Complex, perfumed nose with mint, blue fruit, baking spices, burnt oats, and spice. Faded portiness. Very pleasing on the palate. Red and blue fruit with good acid levels and firm tannins. Long, pleasant finish.

The Cabernet Franc grapes were subjected to multiple small-lot fermentations with some lots spending 20 - 30 days on the skins -- tannin and secondary flavor development -- while others spent 10 - 14 days -- freshness and primary aroma development. Cap management was a mix of pump overs and punch downs. The wines were aged for 18 months in 80% new French oak barrels.

Red fruit and baking spices on the nose. Elegant. Lighter on the palate than was the Cabernet Sauvignon with the higher incidence of red fruit apparent in the comparative colors in the glass when the wines were placed side by side. Medium weight with sour cherry flavor and silky tannins. Hint of syrup. Lengthy. Surprisingly approachable given the vintage but will stay around for a while.

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I have tasted Detert wines before at Premiere Napa Valley events but was never overly impressed with the product. My tasting yesterday was a whole other thing. The wines were exceptional, excellent representations of the terroir. I will need to go back and drink earlier vintages in order to try to understand if/how I missed this. 

If this wine is as good as I think it is, it is  a steal. It is lighter in body than other Collective To Kalon wines that I have tasted -- and I attribute that to the deeper soils associated with the estate (It is the first stop on the path of the mountain effluvia) -- but that also lends to its mystique and intrigue.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme