MACDONALD: A missing piece of the To-Kalon Vineyard story

As part of his support of my efforts to tell the full story of Oakville's To-Kalon Vineyard, Tor Kenward (Tor Kenward Family Wines) put me in touch with Alex and Graeme MacDonald, sibling proprietors of the wine brand MACDONALD and, pleasant surprise, owners of a small slice of the historic vineyard. With the intro from Tor, I was able to schedule a visit with the brothers to talk about the history of their site and the scope of their current efforts.

The MACDONALD property is located on Walnut Drive, west of the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard.

Signpost Tree

I was originally scheduled to meet with Alex but he was called away to a meeting and I met with Graeme instead. I was extremely satisfied with the meeting as Graeme is a history buff (who has done some innovative work on the To-Kalon history) as well as being the viticulturist and winemaker on the project. I will cover my visit with Graeme in two posts, the first adding to the To-Kalon historical context and the second focusing on the enterprise which the two brothers have launched. The map below shows theownership of the modern-day derivatives of the lands that have been referred to as To-Kalon at some time in the past while the diagram below summarizes the portions of the history that I have covered to date.

Created by Sarah MacDonald for Wine-Mise en Abyme

Graeme's Greatgrandmother -- Hedwig Detert -- purchased 43 acres of the To-Kalon Vineyard in 1954 from Caroline Stelling after the death of Martin Stelling in a 1950 automobile accident. Mrs Detert wanted to buy the house in the hills above the vineyard (shown in the picture below) 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 son and daughter and they have worked it since 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 1957, the current MACDONALD vineyard was replanted and the grapes produced therefrom sold to the Charles Krug winery. In 1954 their Grandfather signed a 3-year contract to deliver grapes to Robert Mondavi (while he was at Charles Krug) at $150/ton. The market price was higher than the contract price at harvest but, unbidden, Mondavi paid them at the market price. When this situation repeated itself the following year, his Grandfather strode into Robert Mondavi's office, tore up the contract and told Bob that henceforth they would do business on the basis of a handshake. This handshake agreement continued with Bob when he started his own winery in 1966.

They have sold grapes to the Mondavis for 60 years+ with Robert managing the vineyard for most of that time. The relationship with the Mondavis has been so close that when Robert and Peter had their falling out, Graeme's Grandmother tried to be Solomonic, offering half of the grapes to Bob and half to Peter. Bob took repeated actions to force the price of the grapes up and Peter could not keep up so his Grandmother eventually provided the grapes solely to Bob.

Their Grandmother had wanted the kids to enter into the wine business but they had all gone off to do other thngs.  When Graeme decided to get into the wine business, he asked Robert Mondavi where his focus should be. Bob suggested that he go to UC Davis and acquire the training to become a grower.

After Mondavi sold his winery, they had to begin farming on their own. They used a vineyard management company but he was dissatisfied with their willingness to pull out, needlessly, in his view, the old Cabernet Sauvignon vines. He began to purchase used pieces of equipment here and there and eventually underbid the vineyard management company for the right to farm the vineyard. He has worked and managed it on his own since then. In addition, the brothers have launched a wine, using grapes sourced from the vineyard. Alex is responsible for all other aspects of the business.

I will cover the vineyard and the wine in an upcoming post.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

In search of a 2017 Premiere Napa Valley (#PNV) auction lot

After our visit to Eisele Vineyard, we headed over to the Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch for the tasting of the Premiere Napa Valley (PNV) 20-case lots, the first official all-hands tasting of the 2017 auction. (Premiere Napa Valley (PNV) is the Napa Valley Vintners annual, invitation-only, barrel auction for wine retailers, wholesalers, restaurateurs, and members of the press.  Auction proceeds go towards the trade association's promotional and other activities on behalf of valley winemakers.) We look forward to the 20-case tastings because (i) we have successfully bid on one of these lots in the past; (ii) the Mondavi lot is always a great taste; and (iii) we encounter a lot of first-time participants.

We were disappointed. The event did not have the sizzle that it had in years past and the wines were less-than-stellar. Even the Mondavi offering, which should have towered above the competition, left a bit to be desired. We left and went back to our hotel lobby in search of finer fare.

We had dinner scheduled at Bistro Jeanty that evening. Our standard PNV-week process is to bring in non-Napa wines (as a counter to tasting Napa Cabs all day) and to take the restaurant’s last seating at night. Our reservation at Bistro Jeanty that night was at 8:00 pm but it was less busy than “normal. As a matter of fact, by 9:15 pm, it was empty except for us. We were all surprised by this and I remarked that this was not a good harbinger for the auction. Prophetic, given that the final take was $4.2 million, continuing the downward trend of the past three years ($5 million in 2016 and $6 million in 2015).

The next morning we were up bright and early and headed for the tasting at the Arkenstone Winery. The last time I attended this event it was held at the Boswell cave and we were packed in tighter than sardines in a can. Not so this time. I could navigate freely from station to station and spend unaccustomed amounts of time with winery representatives. The standout wines for me from this tasting were the Arkenstone Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon PNV lot.

Parlo

Author and Sam Kaplan, Arkenstone winemaker

This year we made a strategic decision to visit fewer of these barrel tastings and to catch the ones we missed at the Saturday morning grand tasting. We tasted at Pritchard Hill, Winemakers Studio Tasting, Oakville Growers, and the Open House at Spottswoode. Utilizing this strategy allowed us to get to the Oakville tasting early enough to taste the Harlan. The first time ever for us; and we took full advantage of it.

The tastings that were most revealing for us were the Spottswoode and Online Auction Lot tastings. The Open House tasting featured Dalla Valle with a 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon (their previous auction lot was 10 years ago and this was the youngest Cabernet Sauvignon that I saw on offer), Dominus with a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, and Spottswoode with a 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon PNV Blend and a 2015 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon PNV, among others.The Dalle Valle was a superb wine. Drawn from Isabella’s Vineyard of the Maya Block, this wine, as described by my colleague Andres Montoya, has a “knockout nose of wildflowers, iron, smoke, blackberry, bramble, liquid graphite, and layered complexity that keeps going on and on …” This was the class of the wines I had tasted to date. A bad Dominus is a unicorn wine.

The Online Auction tasting showcased a number of producers that I had not encountered at PNV previously. Further, it had a higher level of energy than at any of the tastings visited up to that time. We encountered two wines there that we were attracted to: Nellcote 2015 Cabernet Tender is the Night and Tonella Cabernet Rutherford Clone 1. We submitted aggressive online bids on both these wines in an attempt to dissuade any potential bidders from jumping into the water.

On the morning of the auction we were there bright and early to re-taste the wines we had liked and to catch the ones that we had missed. One of the wines we discovered was the Jones Family 2015 Two Decades. Adam from Wine on the Way brought it to my attention and we agreed with his assessment. Andrew  called it an “… incredibly pure and decadent example of top-flight Cabernet from Thomas River Brown.”

Winefolly and author

All the while we kept checking our bids. Paddle #2 kept bumping up against us and we kept fending him off. The bidding was scheduled to end once the Live Auction started and we were convinced that we had crossed the finish line as the winner of both the Nellcote and Tonella lots. We still do not understand what happened but we ended up losing the Nellcote bid on the last tick of the clock. Oh well. We had a Lot and had assured ourselves a Past-Winner invitation for the 2018 event.

We had reserved four seats on the right-hand-side of the auctioneer, towards the front. We took a few bottles and settled into our seats to see which would be the top-ranked lot. 

Dynn Proctor, author, Jeff Loo, and RonSiegel

I was reveling in the fact that we had gotten away with only spending $8000 when I felt Ron’s arm moving up and down next to me. What was he doing? Crap. He was bidding. But he didn’t have the paddle. We never allow him to get within 10 miles of it. But the auctioneer didn't care. He was accepting those hand signs. And then we realized he was bidding on the Dalle Valle lot. We thought of our children and Grandchildren and tried to tackle him. But it was too late. I heard those dreaded words —Sold — and the hammer was pointing in our direction. I stopped choking him and and made it look like a hug because everyone was looking in our direction. We hustled Ron out of there very quickly before he impoverished another couple of generations.

As I was rushing blindly out of the hall, I ran headfirst into the Dalle Valle owner. And she was smiling broadly and congratulating us. I couldn't bring myself to tell her that my kids and grandkids would each have a bottle of her auction lot as their inheritance so I smiled woefully and turned towards the camera to take a picture with her. 

Author, Naoko Dalle Valle, and Ron

On the bright side, I guess we will have a lower paddle number next year.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

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

Eisele Vineyard (Calistoga, Napa Valley): A timeline

Wednesday of Premiere Napa Valley (PNV) week signals the official start, from my perspective, of the Hunt for the Auction Lot beginning with the tasting of the 20-case lots. This particular event was to be held at the Farmstead Restaurant at Long Meadow Ranch and we planned to attend after our scheduled visit to Eisele Vineyard.

Eisele Vineyard is the iconic Calistoga estate famed for its production of world-class Cabernet Sauvignons and Sauvignon Blancs. I was first introduced to this wine by a former neighbor in 1996 and and it has been a close companion ever since. I have won a Best-Cabernet competition held at The Wine Barn with a 2005 edition of this wine (The runner-up was a 1991 Dominus) and wowed attendees at the 2014 EWBC BYOB party in Montreux with a 2007 edition (Jaime Araujo was at the conference and spent a good part of the next day trying to find the person who had brought "her family's wine" over there.). All of the people that I drink wine with regularly hold this estate in high esteem.

This particular visit was arranged by Ron Siegel who had met Jean Gerandeau (Sales and Marketing Director, Artemis Domaines) at a Chateau Latour dinner held in Chicago by Hart Davis Hart. I had attended a Wine on the Way Araujo Wine Dinner with Antoine Donnedieu de Vabres (Estate Manager) just about a year ago and had had extensive dialogue with him on the integration and labeling strategy. I was excited to see what progress had been made since that discussion.

It was raining steadily for most of the travel from Yountville to the estate but the rain eased up just enough to allow us to make a dash from the parking lot to the office. Parlo and I were the first to arrive and were welcomed warmly by Sonia Guerlou, the Hospitality Manager.

The reception area was dominated by two exhibits of the estate's pedigree. First, on a table to the left stood a number of wine bottles, each displaying the label of a winemaker who had made vineyard-designated wines with grapes sourced from this vineyard. Second, directly opposite the entrance, a color map showing the various plots that comprise Eisele Vineyard.

Ron and Andrew finally showed up and the tour got underway. As it was still raining, we began our discourse in the office initially and then went outside once the rain stopped.

Sonia was warm, engaging, and knowledgeable. She kept stressing that they (the new owners) were not here to change things; rather, they were there to husband a tremendous resource that they had had the good fortune (and sense) to acquire.

Sonia Guerlou, Hospitality Manager

As Sonia explained it, Eisele Vineyard is located in northeast Napa Valley just east of Calistoga at the base of the Palisades Mountain Range. As shown in the timeline below, the vineyard's history stretches as far back as does the history of To Kalon and grapes have been planted continuously on the the property for the duration. The estate is 162 acres in size with 38 of those acres under vine.

When the vineyard was purchased by the Eiseles, they became 60+-year-old grapegrowers. They offered their grapes to Paul Draper of Ridge and he produced a vineyard-designated wine in 1971.

The Araujos bought the vineyard in 1990 and, in short order, built a winery and produced a wine under their own label. The 1991 harvest was shared between Joseph Phelps and the Araujos and they both produced wines under their individual labels.

During their tenure, the Araujos elevated the property from a great vineyard to one of the world's great estates. They introduced organic (1998) and biodynamic (2000) farming with all herbs and preparations used in the latter management process sourced from the vineyard.

As Sonia kept pointing out, Artemis Domaines purchased an iconic estate that was at the top of its game and that had a strong and loyal customer base. As in any acquisition of this type, the operating principle is "do no harm." That is, do not give the customer base any reason to think that the new owners are making wholesale changes just for the sake of making changes. The challenge for the new owners was seeking to establish an identity separate from the Araujos without giving the impression that they were changing the core product (which was a very high-value product to begin with).

The strategy chosen was to elevate the vineyard name above all else. This goal was accomplished over a three-year period of "gentle, subtle changes." The result is shown in the photo below. The 1991 label shows the vineyard name in the center and the estate name in the bottom right. Both of these bodies of text have similar size. The final label has only the vineyard name on the label and the font is larger than on the 1991 label.

I will cover the physical aspects of the estate and the changes that Artemis has made to the wine in a follow-up post.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Walking the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard with Andy Beckstoffer and Tor Kenward (Tor Kenward Family Wines)

According to Esther Mobley of the San Francisco Chronicle:

Andy Beckstoffer is a legend in California wine ... The grape grower owns what is certainly California's most famous, and probably most expensive, vineyard: To Kalon, in the heart of Napa Valley. To Kalon is a vineyard with an aura. Winemakers speak in hushed tones about the prospect of handling its Cabernet; wines that bear the vineyard's name drown in 100-point scores.

And we were scheduled to visit this vineyard on the Tuesday of PNV week on a tour organized by Tor Kenward -- for the Wine on the Way team -- and led by the selfsame Andy Beckstoffer.

Tor had provided us with directions to the meeting point (shown on the map below) and we all mostly arrived at the same time. It was cold and spitting but we were oblivious to the elements; we were warm with anticipation.

While we awaited Andy's arrival, Tor provided us with his perspective on the vineyard:

Tor Kenward Family Wines has worked with eight different blocks since 2005 and has gravitated to the leaner soils in the western back blocks higher on the bench. We have worked with all the clones except clone 7, and have two blocks of rare Cabernet Franc. Our goal is to keep all the blocks separate and each year simply make the best wines we can from the diversity of the different clones, blocks and varieties present.

The picture below shows some of the more well-known Beckstoffer To Kalon producers and the vineyard blocks from which they source grapes.

Tor Kenward (center) warming up for Andy

And then Andy arrived. He was genial and quick with a smile. He welcomed each of us with a warm handshake and an apology for the weather. He was dressed as though he had just stepped off the farm tractor but the twinkle in his eye signaled that he might be wearing monogrammed underwear beneath the farmer gear.

Andy Beckstoffer on point

After some catching up, we headed off along the path indicated on the first vineyard map in this post and displayed in the picture below.

Heading out to traverse the vineyard

As noted by Esther Mobley, Beckstoffer To Kalon wines receive high scores and demand a premium in the marketplace. But when you speak to the winemakers, the conversation eventually comes around to a discussion of Andy's pricing mechanism for grapes sourced from this vineyard. As described by Alder Yarrow, "His contracts with customers specify three pricing scenarios for the grapes: a fixed price per ton, a fixed price per acre, and a fixed multiplier of the winery's suggested retail price per bottle, with a required minimum bottle price." According to Yarrow, the per acre price is insurance against a winemaker restricting the crop to "unusually" low levels.

That pricing mechanism reflects Andy's feeling about the primacy of this vineyard in the construction of high-quality wines. As he explained it during our walk, when he started out, he had the option of providing the fruit to a single winemaker. But, under that scenario, all of the talk would be about a great winemaker. If, however, he provides fruit to 20 winemakers, and they all make great wines, then the dialogue is about a great vineyard. And that is why he wants to speak to the winemaker prior to providing fruit to a producer. He wants to make an evaluation as to whether that winemaker can truly represent the vineyard.

Back in the 1980s, he continued, the better wines were reserve wines, the product of winemaking. Today the the best wines are expressions of terroir and he has brought every modern approach to viticulture to the vineyard in order to ensure that he is producing absolutely the best grapes. In the current partnership model, the winery is responsible for yields and harvest timing while he is responsible for all other aspects of viticulture. The vineyard is managed sustainably.

Andy mentioned that they will be initiating a replanting of the vineyard, an effort that will unfold over a 10-year period. He will be replacing the current rootstock -- 039-16 -- with a UC-Davis-developed derivative with the nomenclature GRN 1 and GRN 3. The current rootstock is too vigorous and is not as nematode-resistant as he would like. The nematode problem in the vineyard results in production levels of 1.6 tons/acre in some areas versus an average of 3.5 tons/acre overall. The replacement rootstock has lower vigor, higher nematode resistance, and a higher level of Phylloxera resistance.

The replanting plan is complex and will require some pain-sharing among the fruit purchasers. They were recently informed of the plan by mail. Andy's plan is that when a buyer's plot (or portion of a plot) is designated for replanting, his/her neighbor will be asked to share a portion of their fruit with the affected party. The upshot of this plan is that both parties will be subjected to reduced grape totals until that replanted plot becomes productive again (3 - 5 years in Andy's estimation, 5 - 7 years in mine).

By this time we had spent over an hour discussing the vineyard, pricing philosophy, grower-winemaker relationships, and the replant. It was time to begin heading back and we fell naturally into two groups. Tor and Andy went ahead of us (Tor now had quality time to bend Andy's ear) while we followed at a more measured pace giddily discussing the things that we had heard and learned. This had been a very enlightening visit.

Note: The configuration of the vineyard has been described in a previous post.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard: History, configuration, and vineyard management

When my good friend Adam Chilvers of Orlando-based online retailer Wine on the Way invited me to accompany his PNV 2017 group on a tour of the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard -- said tour to be led by Tor Kenward of Tor Kenward Family Vineyards -- I jumped at the opportunity. When Adam called me again a few weeks later and said that Andy Beckstoffer -- proprietor of the named vineyard -- would be accompanying us on the walk-through, I jumped even higher.

Having previously written on the history of the broader To Kalon Vineyard, I saw this as an opportunity to walk on the hallowed ground that had supported the production of exceedingly high-quality grapes for well over a century as well as to hear from one of the legends who had maintained and brightened the flame. Before I describe the tour, I would like to provide some background on the subject vineyard.

The figure below summarizes the history of the Beckstoffer To Kalon vineyard.

Deriving from the original plots purchased by Hamilton Crabb in the latter part of the 19th Century, this specific component was first broken out when it was sold to Beaulieu Vineyard where it was given the designation Vineyard #4 and gained renown as the home of the great Georges de Latour Cabernet Sauvignons created by Andre Tchelistcheff. The vineyard was acquired by Andy Beckstoffer in 1993 where it today has pride of place in his stable of Heritage Vineyards.

The Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, illustrated graphically in the map below, is located on the western edge of the Oakville AVA. The table below the map shows the distribution of varieties and clones in the vineyard today. The current distribution was arrived at in a replanting program that was rolled out between 1994 and 1997.

Table 1: Distribution of Varieties and Clones in Beckstoffer to Kalon Vineyard

Variety	Clone	Rootstock	Acres	Cab Sauv %	Cab Franc%
Cabernet Sauvignon	4	039-16	37.9	48
	357	039-16	31.92	31.92
	7	039-16	4.3	6
	6	039-16	4.29	5
Total			78.41	100
Cabernet Franc	1	039-16	4.63		100

According to information gleaned from Beckstoffer Vineyards, the soils are 60% Bale loam and 40% Bale clay loam. These soils provide quality drainage and adequate rooting depth as a result of loam in the first 24 inches and a gravelly loam in the subsequent 24 inches.

Vineyard management is the purview of the Beckstoffer team (the winemaker has responsibility for pick date and yields) and they have opted for the following management configuration:

Trellis System:      Vertical shoot positioning
Row Orientation:  Northwest by Southeast
Vine Spacing:        82% 6 x 7 (1037 vines/acre)
                               18% 8 x 7 (778 vines/acre)
Pruning:                Spur-Pruned to a bi-lateral cordon system

The actual vineyard tour will be discussed in a subsequent post.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Premiere Napa Valley 2017: First-Day activities

Premiere Napa Valley (PNV) is the Napa Valley Vintners annual, invitation-only, barrel auction for wine retailers, wholesalers, restaurateurs, and members of the press.  Auction proceeds go towards the trade association's promotional and other activities on behalf of valley winemakers. The 2017 edition of event concluded on Saturday last with the barrel auction at Greystone which raised a total of $4.2 million. 

For many attendees, time spent with winery owners and winemakers prior to the start of the officially sanctioned events is a critically important aspect of the week's activities. I arrived in Yountville on the Tuesday of the week and, shortly after depositing my luggage at the hotel, hightailed it over to Oakville to meet up with the Wine on the Way team for a walkthrough of the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard. This visit had been organized by Tor Kenward — Tor Kenward Family Vineyards —  both as a gesture to his good friend Adam Chilvers — proprietor of Wine on the Way — and as a reward to the team for purchasing the TOR PNV lot in the prior year.

The intersection just prior to the Oakville Grocery (as you head towards St. Helena on Highway 29) is called Walnut Drive. If you turn left into Walnut Drive from Highway 29, Beckstoffer To Kalon is to your right. We gathered at the first path on the right to begin our walk through the vineyard. It was rainy and somewhat cold but the excitement of the moment overrode any discomfort brought on by the elements. Once Andy showed up, we embarked on what turned out to be an intriguing and exciting tour and discussion. I will cover the trip in greater detail in a subsequent post.

Andy Beckstoffer (3rd from left) and Tor Kenward (2nd from
right) were our hosts on the tour of the To Kalon Vineyard

At the conclusion of the tour, we drove to Cindy’s Back Street Kitchen for lunch and a promised treat from Tor of tasting a range of his 2015 barrel samples. Shortly after we settled in, Tor pulled out clear bottles of his 2015 To Kalon Cabernet, Oakville Propriety Blend,  and Black Magic, a Cabernet Sauvignon that is only produced in special years. These wines were all loaded with promise. Tor also brought along a bottle of his 2012 Beckstoffer To Kalon and a bottle of a 2004 wine that he had made while still an employee at Beringer. 

After a long, leisurely lunch we traveled up to Pritchard Hill to visit the Colgin IX estate, a 20-acre vineyard located on the upper reaches of the famed Pritchard Hill. While on the way up we gained an impressive reminder of the current water state of the region as demonstrated by the release of water from Lake Hennessey through a highly active spillway.

Later that evening I was a guest at the Wine on the Way BYOB party, a party famous both for the wines that are opened as well as the attendee list. This is a great annual event that is held at the home that the group rents for PNV week. My wife and I had so much fun that we were among the last to leave. Guests included Donald Patz (Patz and Hall), Robin Lail (Lail Vineyards), Sam Kaplan (Arkenstone), and Michelle Baguette (Alpha Omega) among others.

Photo credit: Erin Shay

So by the end of the first day, I had collected material for three blog posts and had made a number of contacts/tentative arrangements for future winery visits.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme