The vineyard and wines of Eisele Vineyard (Calistoga, Napa Valley)

The quality of the Araujo wines, and the repute of the estate, was of such that Artemis Domaines (owners of Chateau Latour and Chateau Grillet, among other labels), made the trip across the ocean and, unbidden, made an offer for the estate. In this post we will examine what Artemis Domaines bought and what they have done to date to begin putting their stamp on the estate.

The estate is located to the east of Calistoga and is surrounded by the Palisades Mountain Range, a situation which affords protection from the north winds while still allowing cooling by the westerly breezes that make their way through the Chalk Hill Gap. The nights are cool, resulting in meaningful diurnal temperature variation and its beneficial effect on the fruit.

The underlying soils are volcanic cobbly soils which have been washed down from the Palisades and deposited as an alluvial fan by Simmons Creek -- the waterway bisecting the property -- and its tributary. There are gentle slopes between the creek bed and the foothills, the result of long-term gravitational and weathering effects upon the deposited rocks.

Intense storms during the winter months contribute to soil deposition but the creek dries up during the summer months leaving the vines dependent on depth-resident ground water. The stony subsoil facilitates the efforts of the deep roots to get at this water. Irrigation is only utilized when necessary.

The map below shows the configuration of the Eisele Vineyard.

Vineyard map (Source:eiselevineyard.com)

Source: eiselevineyards.com

Sonia, Ron and Bev

The vineyard is divided into 13 blocks and 40 sub-blocks reflecting “the nuances of soil and subsoil.” The varieties planted in the vineyard are as follows:

·       Cabernet Sauvignon – the best Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from the plots around Simmons Creek. Lees complex wines are made from the younger vines in the eastern part of the vineyard.

·       Cabernet Franc

·       Petit Verdot – Fully ¾ of the vineyard is devoted to the production of the three Bordeaux varieties

·       Syrah – first planted in 1978

·       Sauvignon  Blanc – both Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Musque planted on the eastern side of the property

·       Viognier – Initially planted for co-fermentation with the Syrah, in some years there is enough product to make a varietal wine.

Vines average 25 years of age and are farmed according to biodynamic principles. The estate uses its own herbs and preparations from the vineyard.

With the purchase of Eisele Vineyard, Artemis Domaines gained responsibility for harvesting and production of the 2013 vintage. They, obviously, were responsible for all aspects of the 2014 vintage. We will first examine the production parameters to determine any changes between these two vintages. This assessment will also allow us to get a full inventory of the wines produced by the estate.

Cabernet Sauvignon Estate – In both 2012 and 2013 the wines were made with 100% Cabernet Sauvignon fruit. The winemaking schema employed included: vigilant sorting; slow fermentation with gentle extraction; and barrel-aging with a careful choice of toasts and origins tailored to each vineyard block.

Altagracia – The Altagracia exhibited significant changes in its varietal composition between 2012 and 2014 with the Cabernet Sauvignon percentage increasing and Merlot and Malbec losing their place in the blend. Cabernet Sauvignon went from 71% in 2012 to 81% in 2014 while both Merlot and Malbec went from 6% and 4%, respectively, in 2012 to zero in 2014. The winemaking schema was the same as for the estate Cabernet Sauvignon.

Sauvignon Blanc – The Sauvignon Blanc is generally a blend of Sauvignon blanc (lean, gravelly structure) and Sauvignon musque (slightly exotic flavors). In 2013 this wine was made from 100% Sauvignon blanc while the 2014 and 2015 versions had 68% and 78%, respectively. In 2012 the mix was 75% musque and 25% blanc. It appears as though Eisele Vineyard tried a 100% Sauvignon Blanc in their first year and then thought better of it subsequently.

Beginning with the 2013 vintage this wine was subjected to extended elevage on lees with fermentation and elevage in a combination of stainless steel, French oak, and cement egg. In 2015 the fermentation percentage distribution was: concrete egg, 20%; used oak, 42%; stainless steel, 18%; and new oak, 20%.

Syrah – The Syrah is whole-cluster-fermented in small tanks and aged for 21 months in 50% new French oak. The wine had 1% Viognier in 2012 but was 100% Syrah in 2013.

Viognier– These grapes are whole-cluster-pressed and fermented with native yeasts. The wine is aged sur lie with batonnage in 50% stainless steel and 50% used oak.

After our vineyard walk we came into a beautifully appointed cellar cave for a tour and tasting. We were to taste the 2012 and 2013 vintages of the Altagracia and Estate Cab and the 2015 vintage of the Sauvignon Blanc. The red wines had been opened two hours prior and double-decanted.

There were marked differences between the two vintages of the red wines. The 2012 Altagracia exhibited chocolate, toast and red fruit on the nose with a savory herb note and oak on the palate and finish. The 2013 exhibited greater elegance, was less weighty on the palate, mineral, lean, and focused. This sense of increased elegance and a fine-boned character was also a characteristic of the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. The year 2013 was an exceptional vintage in Napa but I have no doubt that the new aging regime contributed to some of the differences that I observed between the two vintages and, in so doing, made a great wine even better.

The Sauvignon Blanc was reminiscent of a Semillon on the nose. Creaminess, lime, and a burnt character on the palate. Ranks among the best Sauvignon Blancs in the Valley.

A stellar day indeed.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Opus One: Conception and execution of the highest order

Opus One is an Oakville-based winery joint venture that grew out of Baron Philippe de Rothschild's (at that time the owner of Mouton-Rothschild) desire to partner with an American producer to make a distinctly American wine.  I have visited the winery twice in a little over a year -- once as a member of the UC Davis Wine Law Conference team that visited the facility on June 6th, 2010 and, secondly, on a personal guided tour organized by @sdematei and led by Jim Nicolette, Guest Relations Coordinator -- and this post presents my understanding of the winery operations based on onsite discussions as well as material gleaned from secondary sources.

Based on the recommendation of his friend Harry Serlis, Robert Mondavi was the only producer who was considered by the Baron as a potential joint-venture partner (Julia Flynn Siler, The House of Mondavi, Penguin 2007).  The Baron invited Robert Mondavi to meet at Mouton-Rothschild and in the course of the visit (1978) proposed a joint venture based on equal footing (a surprising proposal to Mondavi given the size and prestige of Mouton).  The agreement coming out of the meeting was for the formation of a fifty-fifty joint venture which would produce a single red wine with a proprietary name (Siler 2007).  Robert Mondavi would provide the grapes and make the wine for the joint venture until it was able to meet its own needs and a search would be initiated to identify and procure property to house its operations.

The joint venture released its 1979 and 1980 vintages simultaneously in 1984 under the winemaking stewardship of Timothy Mondavi and Lucien Sionneau, the Mouton winemaker.  The product introduced on the market represented a compromise between Sionneau's preference for a more elegant offering and Mondavi's hankering for a California-style red wine (Siler 2007).

The climate and soils of Oakville, Opus One's home AVA, has been described in a previous post.  The estate currently owns and operates four vineyards, totaling 169 acres (68.4 ha), in the AVA.  The first acquisition was the Q Block (35 acres (14.2 ha)) of the famed To Kalon Vineyard from the Robert Mondavi Winery in 1981.


This was followed by the acquisition of the 50-acre (20.2-ha) River Parcel in 1983, the Ballestra Vineyard (49 acres (19.8 ha)) in 1984, and the To Kalon K Block (48 acre (18.4 ha)) in 2008.  In 1995 the Q Block was replanted with low-yield, high-density, phylloxera-resistant rootstock.  The density of the re-plantings was five to six times higher than is normal for Napa but was pursued in order to produce smaller berries with resultant higher skin-to-juice-ratio which, in turn, would translate into more intense flavors and aromas. Overall vine density ranges between 500 and 2400 vines per acre.  Vines are spur-pruned with new plantings going to Guyot.

Source: Opusonewinery.com

The goal of Opus One is the production of an extraordinay wine and the person leading that charge today is the Winemaker and Viticulturist Michael Silacci.  Mike has a Masters degree in Viticulture from UC Davis and Undergraduate degrees in Enology from UC Davis and the University of Bordeaux.  Mike spent 6 years as the winemaker at Stags Leap Wine Cellars and 1 year as the winemaker at King Estates in Oregon but is especially mindful of the years (6) at Beaulieu Estates where he got to work alongside the legendary Andre Tchelistcheff.  Tchelistcheff had come back to Beaulieu Vineyards as a consultant and Mike worked alongside him for approximately 3 years and came out of that process a Tchelistcheff disciple.

Mike came to Opus One in 2001 and put the vineyard team together, drawing extensively from Mondavi personnel. Mike sought out committed vineyard workers who were willing to take on responsibility and ownership.  In 2004 he placed the cellar workers into teams and gave each team four barrels of wine (value approximately $250,000) with the goal of having "their" wines included in the Opus blend.  According to JIm Nicolette, since that initial assignment, only one team has missed the blend.

During my initial trip to Opus I was mesmerized by the corporate strategic management skills exhibited by Mike.  These are not the type of skills that you encounter in a winery on a daily basis.  First, he was very strategic in his thinking and every action that was undertaken was part of a larger plan.  He related the story of how he eventually got the executives in France to commit the financial resources to replanting the vineyards and it was brilliant.  Second, his management style was highly motivational.  Rather than pulling folks along, he gave them a sense of shared ownership and responsibility and a "we all win together" attitude.  He spoke very highly of his staff and their successes to the UC Davis team where a lot of winemakers would have used the opportunity to laud their own accomplishments.  And that love is returned.  A fair amount of the time that I spent with Jim was taken up with favorable stories about Mike's effect on and in the workplace.  According to Jim, Mike's motivational management style has dramatically changed the culture at Opus One.

Harvesting of the grape berries are done by hand by teams working between 3:30 and 10:00 am.  The berries are deposited into small picking boxes for transport to the winery where they are hand-sorted before being placed in the destemmer.  The berries are gravity-flowed from the destemmers to stainless steel fermenting tanks on the floor below.  Each tank is dedicated to a single lot and is only used once during harvest.  The berries undergo a warm maceration at the conclusion of which the tanks are raised and the free-run juice is gravity-fed into new French oak barrels.  The remaining solid material is placed into basket presses and the resulting juice is itself placed into oak barrels for aging.

The wine is kept in oak casks for 18 months during which time it is racked and topped-up as needed.  In turbid years the wine is subjected to egg-white fining. The final blend is determined by a tasting team comprised of the winemaker, two assistant winemakers, and a contingent from Mouton-Rothschild.  The blend is generally 85% Cabernet Sauvignon with the remainder being some mix of the other Bordeaux varietals.  A general practice is to co-ferment the best Cabernet Sauvignon with Petit Verdot.

The wines are bottled after the 18-month residence in cask and spend an additional 18 months in bottle before public release.

Opus One bottles its vintage Bordeaux blend for worldwide distribution and a non-vintage second wine -- Overture -- which is only avaiilable for purchse at the winery or on the winery's website.  The flagship wine is generally concentrated with apparent black fruit and silky tannins but ages well, as demonstrated in a recent Masters of Wine tasting in London where Mike's favorite vintages were showcased.  The wines are generally favorably received by the critic-class and have developed a faithful following worldwide.

In closing I should note that, with Constellation's purchase of the Robert Mondavi Winery, the joint partners in the endeavor are now Constellation Brands and the Baron Philippe de Rothschild organization.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Wine balance: Napa's Phoenix

In the early 1970s, Napa wines exhibited characteristics that were close enough to wines from France that a group of leading French experts famously (Judgement of Paris) could not differentiate between the wines from the two regions and awarded top honors, in both the red and white flights, to the wines from Napa.  Somewhere along the way the paths of these two regions diverged (some would say that Napa lost its way) and Napa wines became known as fruit, alcohol, and oaken bombs that were too extracted and dangerous to food.  A sense abounds, however, that the tide is beginning to turn and that a vanguard of the winemakers who jumped off the deep end are beginning the long swim back to join those who had the courage and foresight to mann the shore batteries against the onslaught of sweet.  We examine the forcing factors in this post.

Source: beltwayfinewine.com

According to Greg Byrne (Wine surges in popularity ..., Santa Fe New Mexican, 7/15/09), in the 1970s and 1980s, many Napa wineries picked too early in an attempt to emulate the wines of Bordeaux.  The standard practice was to harvest grapes based on sugar ripeness -- pick at 23.6 degrees Brix in order to yield 12.6% alcohol in the fermented wine.  After many years of pursuing this path -- a path, according to Byrne,  littered with overly tannic, underripe, harsh wines -- Joe Heitz (Heitz Cellars) began to agitate for producing wines based on what the climate allowed rather than what Bordeaux was producing.  In the early 1990s, then, hang time became the buzzword as winemakers pursued riper fruit and the wine style changed for the better.

Writing about this same period, John Gilman (California Classicism, The World of Fine Wine (TWoFW), Issue 35, 2012) saw two waves of winemaking which, by the end of the 1970s, had placed California winemaking squarely on the map:

1960s                                          1970s
Heitz                                           Joseph Swan
Ridge                                          Sterling
Mayacamas                                Chateau Montelena
Mondavi                                      Clos du Val
Chalone                                      Joseph Phelps
Schramberg                                Stag's Leap Wine Cellar

The two men agree that Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall but disagree as to the forces that dislodged him.  According to Byrne, the lack of rain in Napa in September and October allowed for much longer  hang time and phenolicly ripe fruit.  It also brought along, however, higher sugar levels, lower acidity, darker color, and richer flavors.  By marrying this style of wine with young oak, the Napa winemaker was now promoting power and exuberance over elegance and finesse.  Byrne feels that too many winemakers went too far down this path.

While Bryant saw viticultural practices, as it related to phenolic ripeness, as the Napa problem, Gilman sees the problem as the industry's pursuit of cellar-based technology solutions aimed at closing the "Bordeaux gap" (and the creation of winemaking superstars who, from time to time, read their own reviews).  In addition, phylloxera had caused widespread replantings in the 1990s and cellar manipulation was used to paper over resulting problems such as young juice in the mix, improperly sited vines, and the pursuit of high yields by the growers in order to meet high demand.

Adding fire to the flame was Robert Parker assigning high scores to these wines and an indolent, self-centered, unquestioning public snapping up the wines at every turn, based exclusively on these scores.  This created a vicious cycle with existing wineries adjusting their wines in pursuit of points and new entrants applying the formula from day one.

Regardless of the proportions, these factors had combined to push the industry to a "bad place" by the end of the 1990s.  Gilman has characterized that place: high-alcohol wines made from late-picked fruit, vinified with residual sugar, sprinkled with winemaking additives, and matured in expensive new oak.  "Phenolic ripeness became the mantra behind which this was all concealed."  Alcohol levels had gotten so high that a number of post-fermentation mechanisms were created for mitigation purposes; likewise, technical solutions were employed to address acid deficiency.

A number of factors point to a sea change but, before we address those, let us take a look at the winemakers who did not respond to the siren song of imbalance.  The figure below is a compilation of wineries who continued to make wines the old-fashioned way, with words like balance, elegance, finesse, and food being their north stars.  The winemakers on this list, plus some others he refers to as "neo-classicists" (James Johnson Vineyards, Philip Togni, for example), remain today, according to Gilman, "at the top of their games and are currently fashioning some of the greatest wines in their illustrious histories."

A number of writers have been making the case that California winemakers are beginning to see the light and are moving to more balanced wines.  The writers mentioned in this article definitely fall into this camp.  Byrne sees the pendulum as swinging back to finesse, acidity, and varietal character.  Gilman views the wines being crafted by the old-liners and the neo-classicists as "classic, old-school wines crafted for the cellar and destined to evolve gracefully."  You can also add Alice Feiring to the mix.  In a June 2012 article in the Daily Beast (Big? Jammy? Not Anymore! California ...) she cites examples of winemakers who have, for one reason or the other, made the switch from powerful to more food-friendly wines.  She makes the point that grass roots organizational activity is also forcing the industry to re-examine its position.  Case in point, the In Pursuit of Balance initiative spearheaded by Rajat Par (celebrity sommelier and winemaker) and Jasmine Hirsch, Director of Marketing for Hirsch Vineyard.  Hirsch is quoted in the article as saying that one of the drivers of the move to balanced wines is a maturing of the American wine palate and an associated quest for greater subtlety and complexity.

The perceived waning influence of Robert Parker is cited as another reason for this shifting wine style.  Parker preferred the style of wine which came to be characteristic of Napa and winemakers and customers heeded his cry.  With the financial crash, collectors who pursued this type of wine were wiped out and began looking for less expensive alternatives.  They even started looking in places like Chile and Argentina, for crying out loud.  Paralleling the fall of Parker's traditional base was the rise of the Millenial's as serious players.  In contrast to Parker's traditional base (i) their tastes' were eclectic and (ii) they did their own research , drawing on friends, acquaintances, blogs, and critics who had been laboring in the shadows.  Parker's pronouncements still move product but the echo chamber is becoming smaller with the passage of time.

How does a winemaker get on this train?  According to Gilman: (i) steer clear of high alcohol; (ii) keep ripeness in check; (iii) keep new oak in check; and (iv) produce structured wines with balance and complexity.


© Wine -- Mise en abyme

To Kalon: Chronology and genealogy of a vineyard for the ages

Oakville's standing as one of the world's premier wine-growing region has, to a large extent, been based on the presence of the To Kalon Vineyard -- the California Farm Bureau's 2011 Vineyard of the Year -- within its borders.  The vineyard soil is comprised of gravelly loam on the slopes and alluvial, loam, and clay soils on the valley floor.

The Crabb Period
Oakville graduated from a water stop on the Napa Rail Line to the steps of the wine region hall of fame with Hamilton Walker Crabb's (spelt Crabbe in Julia Flynn Siler's The House of Mondavi) 1868 purchase of 240 acres of land from E. L. Sullivan for establishment of a vineyard (According to oakvillewinegrowers.com, Crabb arrived in California in 1853 looking for gold and finally settled in San Lorenzo.). Crabb built his first winery in 1872 and by 1877 was producing 50,000 gallons of wine annually from 130 planted acres in the vineyard that he, at that time, called Hermosa Vineyards.

Crabb was considered the "first true horticulturist" to be associated with Napa wines.  He grew more than 400 grape varieties on his property (he had brought in cuttings of "noble varieties" from France) and was a leader in the research efforts to develop phylloxera-resistant rootstock.  He shared his viticultural knowledge with his peers and sold them thousands of cuttings from his vineyard.  He is reputed to have been the first to plant Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc in the valley.

In 1879 Crabb purchased a 119-acre parcel from Eliza Yount, bringing his vineyard size to 359 acres, the eventual size at the time of his death in 1899. By 1886, Crabb had adopted the name To Kalon (the good; the beautiful) for the vineyard.

Crabb's association with the 135.7-acre Davis parcel -- prior to his 1891 short-term purchase -- solidifies its consideration as a component of the historic To-Kalon Vineyard (To-Kalon Vineyard National Register Nomination):

• Crabb had planted the first vines on this property (at that time owned by his in-laws-to-be) in 1873 and had been purchasing the fruit to include in his To-Kalon wines since 1879.
• Crabb purchased the land at auction in 1891 and immediately sold it back to his daughter-in-law via a mortgage valued at one-third the price he had paid for the property just seven days earlier. In 1893 he filed a quitclaim deed for the property and Margarethe Davis (his daughter-in-law) sells the property to A. L. Williams in November of the following year.
• Prior to the 1891 purchase, Crabb regularly referred to the parcel as his own
• According to the nomination,, "Additional primary sources state that the historic To-Kalon Vineyard was contiguous and stretched from the highway back to the foothills."

Historical To-Kalon boundary
(Source: Graeme MacDonald)

Click here to learn about another interpretation as to the components of the historical vineyard.

The Churchill Period and Beyond
To Kalon was sold to a banker named E. W. Churchill subsequent to Crabb's death.  In 1911, he set aside 20 of the vineyard's acres to be used by the US Department of Agriculture for viticultural research.  The Department had established a research station in Oakville (Oakville Station) in 1903 and placed it under the stewardship of UC Davis.  Today UC Davis manages 40 acres of land at Oakville Station where experiments aimed at improving viticultural practices are conducted on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petite Sirah, Syrah, and Zinfandel vines.  The grapes grown at Oakville station are sold to wineries to be used in the production of table wines.

Wine was produced at To Kalon from the time of Crabb's death until the winery burnt to the ground in 1939.  With the winery gone, the Churchill family decided to sell the estate.  The estate itself appeared to have grown in size because 335 acres were sold to Martin Stelling ( a San Francisco steel manufacturer), thus becoming a part of the 2000-acre Stelling Estate, while 89 acres were sold to Beaulieu Vineyards and became its Beaulieu Vineyard #4, source of the legendary Georges de Latour wines made by André Tchelistcheff.  Churchill had acquired 359 acres from the Crabb estate and had set 20 acres aside for the Department of Agriculture which should have brought the To Kalon acreage to 339 acres.  Sometime during the Churchill tenure, then, an additional 85 acres were added to the original vineyard to support the sale of the reported acreage to Stelling and Beaulieu Vineyards.

To-Kalon (with Stelling extensions) at the time of

Martin Stelling's death (Source:guildsomm.com)

Martin Stelling died in an automobile accident in 1950 and his estate was held in trust for his son Douglas Stelling.

Mrs. Hedwig Detert purchased 43 acres of the To-Kalon Vineyard in 1954 from Caroline Stelling after the death of her husband. 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. Shortly after the purchase, Mrs Detert turned the vineyard over to her sons and they divided it up and worked it as two separate vineyards. (Today the MacDonald Vineyard is 21 acres in size -- inclusive of 3 acres purchased from Robert Mondavi for construction of the buildings currently resident on the property -- while their second cousins farm 25 acres.).

In 1962, Ivan Schoch, Stelling's former foreman, approached the Mondavi's, then the owners of Charles Krug, about buying some of the Stelling land.  The Mondavi's jumped at the chance and bought almost 500 acres of the property, inclusive of most of the original Crabb acreage, for $1.35 million.  The property was held by the Charles Krug parent company C. Mondavi and Sons.

After his expulsion from Charles Krug, Robert Mondavi set out to establish his own winery.  This initiative began with the purchase of  11.6 acres of the original Crabb estate.  Subsequent to Mondavi's purchase, discussions were begun about converting the Stelling property into a commercial development with a small winery at its core.  Robert Mondavi signed on to be the winery operator and gained a small parcel of Stelling To Kalon property on which to build his own winery. The land development project never came to fruition but, with investment assistance from Sicks Rainier Brewing Company, Robert Mondavi Winery was able to purchase an additional 230 acres of To Kalon Vineyards from the Stelling holdings.

Charles Krug board action subsequent to Robert Mondavi's ouster sought to alter his voting rights and ownership share, prompting a Mondavi suit against his former company.  Mondavi prevailed in his suit and gained most of the To Kalon properties held by C. Mondavi and Sons as part of the settlement.

When Robert Mondavi and Baron de Rothschild agreed to the joint venture that is today's Opus One, the Baron contributed the working capital while Robert Mondavi contributed the choicest fruit from To Kalon, wines, and the sales and marketing apparatus.  In 1981 Robert Mondavi sold the To Kalon Q Block (35 acres) to the joint venture.  The viticulturist replanted this plot in 1995 with low-yield, high-density, phylloxera-resistant rootstock.  In 2008 Opus One acquired another 48 acres (K Block) of the To Kalon Vineyard from the Robert Mondavi Winery.

Source: opusonewinery.com

The Mondavi family sold 2.5 million shares in the company to the public on June 10, 1993 but retained a controlling interest post the transaction. At this time Michael and Tim were co-Managing Directors, Marcia (their sister) was a partner, and Clifford Adams was the COO. 

The company flourished until it experienced slowing business performance in the early 2000s. 

The board thought that a reorganization which sold off the high-end portfolio (Mondavi Winery, Ornellaia, and its ownership stake in Opus One), while retaining the inexpensive offerings (Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, Robert Mondavi Private Selection) would return the enterprise to profitability. Constellation countered this reorganization plan by offering to buy the entire enterprise for $970 million, an offer which the Board members seemed to ignore. Shareholder lawsuits, and a sweetened offer $1.03 billion) from Constellation, resulted in the Board considering -- and accepting -- the offer. The deal, closed on 12/22/04, resulted in the separation of the Mondavi family from the business with Robert retained as a Brand Ambassador.

Beckstoffer Vineyards acquired Beaulieu Vineyard #4 in 1993 to add to its stable of heritage vineyards -- vineyards blessed with history, great land, and great fruit.  Subsequent to the purchase, Beckstoffer replanted the vineyard (1994 - 1997) with multiple clones of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, modern trellising, and closer vine spacing.

Beckstoffer had, back in the 1970s, been an early proponent of the AVA system but his thinking has evolved and he is now an avid booster of vineyard-designated wines.  Beckstoffer requires that winemakers purchasing his fruit designate the vineyard of origin on the wine label.  Schrader Cellars followed this dictate and placed the To Kalon name on the label its 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon which was made from Beckstoffer-sourced grapes.  Robert Mondavi promptly filed suit against Schrader and Beckstoffer for infringement of copyright.  After a year of back and forth the suit was settled with Mondavi granting a perpetual, royalty-free trademark license to Beckstoffer allowing him to use the To Kalon Vineyard designation for grapes grown on his part of the original Crabb estate.  In 2007 Beckstoffer placed his To Kalon property under a land conservation easement that guarantees that it will remain agricultural land into perpetuity.

The vineyard plots associated with the "historic" To-Kalon vineyard is shown in the map below while the acreage distribution is illustrated in the pie chart following.

The Mondavi acreage is used as the source for Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, Oakville District Cabernet Sauvignon, Fumé Blanc Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, and I Block Fumé Blanc (The Mondavi website gives the acreage as 550 acres on one page and 450 acres on another). The Mondavi To Kalon Vineyard is planted to Sauvignon Blanc (I Block; 60-year-old vines), Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petite Verdot, Syrah, and Semillon.

The Oakville Station acreage fuels the Silverado Vineyards UC Davis Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon, Cornerstone Cellars Napa Valley Red Wine, Cornerstone Cellars Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and Stepping Stone Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, among others. 

The Opus One K Block is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot while the Q Block is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.  These grapes are used to produce Opus One.  

Beckstoffer Vineyards is planted with multiple clones of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and is the source for wines such as Alpha Omega (2007-2009), Bacio Divino Cellars (2004-2007), B Cellars (2004-2008), Carter Cellars (several labels, several vintages), Macauley Vineyard (several labels, several vintages), Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon (2001-2010), Provenance Vineyards (2003-2007), and Schrader Cellars (several labels, several vintages) among others.

© Wine -- Mise en abyme

Oakville AVA, the heart of the broader Napa Valley AVA

Oakville, one of Napa Valley's renowned AVAs, is located in the heart of Napa between Rutherford AVA to the north and Yountville AVA to its south.  Named after the dense grove of dark-green canyon oaks that are synonymous with the area, Oakville was launched as a wine-growing region with the 1868 purchase of a 240-acre plot by one Henry Walker Crabb who immediately planted said plot to vine.  The resulting vineyard was called To Kalon, Greek for "the call of beauty."  The AVA -- status granted in 1993 -- runs north to south between Rutherford and Yountville and up 600 feet in the Vaca Mountains to the east and Mayacamas Mountains to the west.

The Oakville climate is Mediterranean-like thanks to the interaction of the cool air blowing in off the San Francisco Bay and the warmer air from the San Joaquin Valley.  Oakville is located such that it receives daily doses of early morning fog from San Pablo Bay to its south.  This morning fog blows off by the middle of the day allowing the grapes to gain the ripening benefit of the Napa afternoon sun.  At the peak of the afternoon temperature, cooler air is once again funneled into the region from the San Pablo Bay.  The afternoon sun promotes full grape ripening while the cooler air in the mornings and late afternoon preserves the acidity which is critical for wine balance.

Rainfall in Oakville amounts to 35 inches per year, falling mostly in the winter and early spring.

The soil in Oakville is comprised, for the most part, of decomposed rock that has been carried downhill from the mountains and has been intermixed with the sand, clay, and gravel deposits of the Napa River flood plain.  This soil has excellent water drainage capability and rooting depths in excess of 100 feet.

To the west, a collection of rock types known as the Franciscan formation underlie two large alluvial fans comprised of clay and bale loams.  A slope of 2 degrees from the foothills to the Napa River plain allows excess rainfall to flow downslope into the river.  On the eastern side of the valley there are some instances of Franciscan formations and smaller alluvial fans but the dominant influence is that of the volcanic composition of the Vaca Mountains as exhibited in exposed volcanic tuff and evidence of lava and pyroclastic flows.

There are 5000 acres of vineyard in Oakville planted to varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. Seventy-five percent of the grapes grown in Oakville is Cabernet Sauvignon which, along with Merlot, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Franc, thrive on the geological formation known as the Western Bench (above the floor of the valley at the base of the Mayacamas Mountains).  Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc do well on the clay and sandy loans of the valley floor.

The wines of the Oakville AVA are deep and richly flavored with the Cabernet Sauvignon being especially opulent.  The wines have a better balance of sugar and acidity than neighboring AVAs because the grapes ripen at a more controlled pace.  Cabernet Sauvignon grown in the Benchland portion of the AVA is thought to be less herbaceous and minty than its non-Bench counterparts as well as being fuller-bodied and longer-lived.

Notable producers in this AVA include Opus One, Robert Mondavi, Heitz Cellars, Groth, Silver Oak, Turnbull, Screaming Eagle, Dalle Valle, Far Niente, Harlan, and PlumpJack.


© Wine -- Mise en abyme

A World of Cabernet Sauvignon: Sonoma and Napa Valley

So, after a brief respite, I return to our World of Cabernet Sauvignon tasting. In previous posts I have reported on our tastings of Bordeaux and Washington/Chile/Tuscany Cabernet Sauvignons. In this post I turn to our tasting of the Sonoma/Napa Valley flight.  The Napa wines were actually tasted in two flights -- mountain and valley floor -- but will be combined in this post in the interest of efficiency.  The wines included in this flight were: 2002 Chateau St Jean; 1994 Togni; 2004 Sherwin Family Vineyards, 1995 Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain; 1985 Heitz Martha's Vineyard; 1973 Inglenook; 2002 Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon; and 2002 Revana.

The first wine tasted was the 2002 Chateau St Jean from Sonoma County.  Sonoma County is a diverse growing region with a complex terrain of small valleys, benchlands and hillsides. A coastal appellation, it is favored with fog in the morning and sunny afternoons cooled by maritime breezes. From the cool Carneros area in the south to the more moderate Russian River and Alexander Valleys further north, a wide variety of grapes can enjoy the optimum climate to achieve rich varietal flavor.  This wine had a beautiful nose, somewhat reminiscent of a Bordeaux wine.  Ron, one of our panelists, indicated that he had the 1966, a Wine Spectator wine of the year, in his cellar but felt that the 2002 presented better on the nose.  Russell felt that the wine gave a clear indication of where you were – California.  It lacked acidity but had vanilla and a brambly taste which Jeff uses as a marker for Sonoma Cabs.

The second wine tasted was the 1994 Philip Togni Vineyard, a 97-point rated wine by Parker.  Philip Togni began planting vines at the pinnacle of Spring Mountain in 1981 after having been winemaker at a number of Napa wineries. The 25-acre vineyard 200 feet up on Spring Mountain is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon (82%), Merlot (15%), Cab Franc (2%), and Petit Verdot (1%).  The 2000-case production is late-picked, “blended deliberately” and aged in 40% new French oak.  Jeff identified this wine as being Dominus-like and this launched a lengthy discussion of Dominus (everyone likes it).  This wine had good acidity, was well balanced, and, according to Jeff, would go well with a steak.

The 2004 Sherwin Family Vineyard was rated 93 points by Wine Spectator.  This wine is made from grapes grown in a 16-acre vineyard contained within a 30-acre estate.  The vineyard is planted to 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc.  Ron visited this estate in 2002 and, after tasting the wine, bought three cases.  He thinks that it is a great representation of Cabernet Sauvignon.  Good balance and nice finish.

The 1995 Dunn Howell Mountain was the next wine tasted.  Dunn produces both a Howell Mountain and a Napa Valley wine -- both 100% Cabs -- but the Howell Mt is 100% Mountain fruit while the Napa Valley contains about 6% valley floor fruit.   The Howell Mountain wine is massive in fruit and tannins. The estate spans 200 acres of which 30 are planted to vine: 24 acres to Cabernet Sauvignon and six to other varietals.  The vines range between 30 and 10 years of age.  Wines are aged in 75% new French oak for 30 months.  This is a big wine with Howell Mountain tannins.  Seemingly immune to the passage of time.

Heitz Martha’s Vineyard was the first vineyard-designated wine in Napa valley (1965).  The vineyard is owned by the May family who grow grapes for Heitz.  The vineyard covers 34 acres on a gently sloping alluvial plain on the western side of Napa, close to the Mayacamas foothills, and is ringed by giant eucalyptus trees which may contribute elements to the wine.  The 1985 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard was rated 94 points by Parker.  This wine is huge and expansive on the nose.  Hints of graphite, chocolate, leather, tobacco, asian spice and earth co-exist with a decided creaminess. The wine retains some acidity, is silky smooth, balanced, and elegant with a long finish.  This is the way California wines used to be.  This wine was voted wine of the flight.

Napanook was the former Inglenook Estate which, under John Daniels, had become famous for its Inglenook Cask Selection. Grapes from this site were highly sought after for the production of high-quality Napa Cabernets. Napanook, located in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains, has a history that goes back to 1836 when George Yount, who gave his name to Yountville, planted the first vines in the valley there. The farm is 124 acres -- 108 of which are planted to vines -- with volcanic, heavy clay, and loam soil types.  The 1973 Inglenook exhibits aromas of tanned leather, red fruit, mushroom, and fig.  On the palate, somewhat Burgundian but with a short finish.  This wine seems to be on its way out.

The 2002 Shafer Hillside Select was rated as a 100-pointer by Robert Parker.  Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon is the flagship product of Shafer Vineyards, a Stags Leap District winery founded in 1972 by John Shafer.  As the name implies, Hillside Select is crafted exclusively from selected blocks of hillside vineyards whose soil characteristics and micro-climate combine to produce Cabernet Sauvignon wines with excellent aging potential. The soil on the Shafer Stags Leap properties are primarily bale loam or volcanic -- 2- to 4-feet deep -- resting on bedrock. The warm days and cool nights result in elongated growing seasons and a near-perfect mix of ripening and acidity. The wines are aged for four and one-half years prior to public release.  The 2002 Shafer Hillside Select had a great nose: grilled steak and graphite along with a rich decadence.  On the palate vanilla, licorice, new oak, sugar cane.  Not a food wine at this time.

The final wine in the flight was the 2002 Revana Family Vineyards, a 95-point (Wine Enthusiast) wine.  Revana is located to the north of St. Helena on gravelly soils.  The vines, first planted in 1998, are in eight separate blocks covering a total of 9 acres.  The blocks, five of which are Cabernet Sauvignon, are farmed and vinified separately.  Winter rains provide a constant supply of gravel, soil, and nutrients to valley floor vineyards.  Warm days and cool nights provide the perfect environment for the right balance of sugar and acidity.  This wine had aromas of licorice, spice, graphite, blackcurrant, cassis, and broccoli.  On the palate a nice attack but a missing finish.


Our final flight was Cabernet Sauvignon’s from Australia and those will be covered in my next post.

Napa Valley: Marquee Cabernet Sauvignon Region

Five percent of California’s wine is produced in the famed Napa Valley region. The valley spans 225,000 acres of land which is planted with 44,000 acres of vineyard and is home to 331 wineries. Cabernet Sauvignon is king in Napa with 17,300 acres of vineyards devoted to this varietal.

Source: http://www.chefandvintner.com/NapaMap.html

Napa Valley is 5 miles wide and 30 miles long and is bordered on the east by the Vaca Mountains, the west by the Mayacama Mountains, and at the northern end by Mt St. Helena. The southern end of the valley is exposed to the cooling influences of the San Francisco Bay. Soils in the valley are varied with over 30 different types having been cataloged. Primary soil types are of volcanic, maritime, or alluvial origins.

Napa Valley is blessed with a temperate climate with long growing seasons of sunny, warm days and cool evenings. Fog is generally pulled into the valley as a result of warm air rising. In some instances, inversion layers trap hot air in the valley. This warmth contributes to the lush ripeness of the valley floor fruit.  Hillside soils are thinner and more “minerally” than valley soils and these factors, combined with the valley floor warmth, are key contributors to the difference between valley floor and hillside fruit.

#Cabernet Day -- Cabernet Sauvignon Review

"If Chardonnay is the vanilla of the commercial wine world, then Cabernet Sauvignon is its chocolate." So said Steven Kolpan in a June 18 (2010) Salon article and, with these words, he re-affirmed the primacy of Cabernet Sauvignon in the world of red wines.  Invariably described as the king of red grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon has achieved prominence in many of the great wine regions around the world.  In our run up to #Cabernet Day, this site will publish posts on some of the lesser-known regions producing quality product from the relevant varietals and their blends.  We begin with a brief review of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape.

Research from Professor Carole Meredith of UC Davis has revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon is the result of a crossing between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc around 600 years ago.  The result of that crossing was the dark-skinned, small-berry grapes that we know today.  The first probable historical mention of Cabernet Sauvignon was an 18th-century reference to the Mouton estate replacing its white grape vines with a red grape vine called Vidure.  The varietal is still referred to by that name in certain parts of France.  Other known names are Petit Cabernet, Petit Vidure, Uva Francese, Bouchet, Bouche, Petit Bouche, and Sauvignon Rouge.

Cabernet Sauvignon has branched out from its roots in Bordeaux to become one of the most widely planted red grapes on the planet.  The iconic representations of Cabernet Sauvignon are the wines of Napa Valley and the Medoc but the grapes are currently grown in places as disparate as Chile, Australia, Italy, South Africa, New Zealand, Spain, and Bulgaria, among others.

Cabernet Sauvignon will flourish in a variety of soil types and climatic conditions but will exhibit vegetal characteristics if the correct level of ripeness is not attained.   Classic examples of how soil and climatic conditions can affect Cabernet Sauvignon wines are shown by its results in Bordeaux and Napa.  The soils in the Medoc are thin and gravelly and climatic conditions vary from year to year.  In these conditions, the grape has not, historically, attained optimum maturity, resulting in thin, highly tannic wines which require blending and long aging to produce the maturity and complexity expected in great wines (It is thought that global warming will result in increased ripeness of Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon grapes as we move forward in the future.).  Napa's valley-floor vineyards, on the other hand, along with warmer, more even temperatures, have yielded less acidic, more mature fruit which do not require blending in order to show its best results.  The primary blending grapes for Cabernet Sauvignon are Merlot and/or Cabernet Franc which both serve to fill in the mid-palate and provide a more rounded finish.

The Cabernet Sauvignon grape contains a high amount of tannins and pigments in the skins and pips which, in turn, have a comparatively high ratio vis a vis the flesh of the grape.  This structure allows the wine to extract higher levels of color and flavor from the skins the longer the contact, but also results in extraction of higher concentrations of tannin.  This composition allows Cabernet Sauvignon wines to age gracefully over long periods of time as the tannins soften and the complexity and harmony of the elements increase.  Cabernet Sauvignon has an affinity for oak and acquires some of the wood tannins and flavors when aged in new oak.

Depending on where it is grown in the world, the type of oak in which it is aged, and the age of the wine being tasted, Cabernet Sauvignon can exhibit a number of aromas and flavors to include blueberries, blackcurrants, cherry, asparagus, eucalyptus, mint, cassis, cedar, cigarbox, tobacco, vanilla, coconut, plum, chocolate, violet, lead pencil , tar, leather, and mineral.  Cabernet Sauvignon pairs well with red meats, lamb, hearty pastas, strong cheeses and dark chocolate.

Trouble in Napaland: Popping of the Wine Country Bubble

A major shift in consumer sentiments and buying patterns is causing significant dislocation in Napa Valley, especialy among growers/wineries with poor financial positioning. 

In the period 1991 to 2008, U.S. retail wine sales grew by 66% but fell by 3.3% between 2008 and 2009.  Sales of bottles in the super-premium category ($30 and above) fell by 15% while sales in the premium category ($15 and above) fell by 10%.  U.S. wine sales decline can be traced to three direct forces: (i) the impact of cheaper wine from Chile, Argentina, and other areas; (ii) consumers trading down in their buying preferences (there may be some causative influence between (i) and (ii); and (iii) a falloff in the restaurant wine sales market as recession-racked consumers stay home in droves.

Within this market environment, wineries are having a tough time moving inventory and some have resorted to such heretical practices as doing private label wines or selling in bulk.  In the case of bulk wine sales, the sell price of the wine could be lower than the cost of the grapes to the winery.

The turmoil in the wine market has had significant knock-on effects for wine industry real estate.  According to Silicon Valley Bank, as many as 10 wineries and vineyards will change hands in distressed sales or foreclosures between 2010 and 2011.  Further, property loan defaults in the month of January were four times higher than one year ago.

Napa land values are currently averaging between $150,000 and $200,000 an acre for land planted with red varietals.  This is a 15% decline from the 2007 peak.  This reduction in land values is affecting everyone but even more so the new arrivals.  These "newbies" made their money in real estate or finance, came into Napa with the romantic notion of crafting the next Screaming Eagle, and bought land at the peak of the market in pursuit of this dream.  This approach has saddled them with enormous initial costs, costs which are unsupportable in a down consumer environment.  And, given the decline in land prices, and bank credit tightening, it is very hard to refnance loans without a bulletproof story.

The strongest players in the industry are seeking to turn this turmoil to their advantage.  For example, Bill Harlan, of Harlan Estates, has purchased 21 acres of an Oakville property called Diamond Oaks Winery from a businessman named Dinesh Maniar.  This same Dinesh Maniar has two other properties in the area that are also facing foreclosure.

In a KQED forum on the state of the Napa wine industry, Robert Nicholson of International Wine Associates has stated emphatically that the sky is not falling.  He sees the market experiencing some adjustment but continuing to be strong overall.  The U.S. wine market, according to Robert, has a very strong core group of wine drinkers in that 90% of the the wine consumed is drunk by 20% of the population.  He is very optimistic about the long-term prospects for the market as the 44 milion marginal drinkers, and those who do not currently drink wine, continue to be exposed to the beverage.

It is possible that current wine price declines will be the silver lining in that long-term picture painted by Robert.  If lower wine prices solidify the marginal drinkers, and attract the non-drinker, it would have positive implications in that today's entry-level wine drinker is tomorrow's premium wine drinker.

Trouble in Napaland: European Grapevine Moth

The discovery of the European grapevine moth -- scientific name Lobesia botrana -- in parts of Napa County has forced Federal officials to impose a quarantine on areas in northern and southern Napa County as well as parts of Sonoma and Solano counties. The quarantine, announced on March 9th, and covering an area of 162 miles, places the regulation of harvesting, shipping, and handling of certain fruits and plants, inclusive of grapes, into the hands of government commissioners.

Source: SFGate.com

The European grapevine moth, native to southern Italy, has long been a major problem for European grape growers and has extended its reach into North and West Africa, the Middle East, and, recently, Chile and Japan.  It was noticed in the U.S. for the first time when it was detected in a vineyard in the middle of Napa last September.  The entire crop of the vineyard was destroyed before the moth was detected.

The moth is feared because it is a berry pest. The larvae burrows into the fruit and pupates and, in so doing, introduces fungus and rot which destroy the berry.

There is some confusion in the industry as to exactly how this pest will be battled.  According to a report on CNBC.com, "Premium grape growers face the prospect of spraying at least three times in the months ahead to deal with three generations of grape-eating larvae that are produced each season." There would be direct financial impact to the grower if such an approach were pursued as spraying costs run in excess of $200 per acre.  Further, premium grape growers feel strongly that their low-impact farming techniques have contributed significantly to the quality of today's wine and that reverting to high-impact methods could have deleterious effects.

Jenifer Putnam, executive director of the Napa Valley Grape Growers Association indicated (SFGate.com)that there would never be any spraying for this pest. According to Ms. Putnam, "... you have to be more surguical and get right in there with the worm."

A number of steps are being taken to combat the pest.  First, over 750 traps have been placed in the quarantined area and plans are afoot to lay more throughout the growing regions. The traps draw the insects onto sticky strips.  The second ongoing active process is the deployment of mating disruption dispensers.  These dispensers emit a female pheromone which attracts male moths who die after flying around for a while in an agitated state futilely searching for a female moth.  The focused application of pesticides and the introduction of predatory wasps are being considered as future "kill-the-moth" tactics.

With the market issues they confront today, the last thing that Napa grape growers need is the European grape moth.  The average ton of premium grapes cost approximately $3400 and three to four tons of quality grapes are produced per acre.  If uncontained, the European grape moth could have a severely negative impact on Napa's $400 million annual premium grape crop and could force growers to attempt to raise prices in the face of reduced demand for premium wines.