Vineyard

APPELLATION:

Mount Veeder, Napa Valley

PLANTED ACRES:

4.5

ELEVATION:

1,300 feet

ASPECT:

East

SOIL:

Fractured shale and sandstone

VARIETIES:

Syrah (planted 1998 and 2001), Mondeuse (2007), Malbec, Zinfandel (2010)

SYRAH CLONES:

Durrell, 174, 383, 470, 525, 877

ROOTSTOCK:

Mostly 110 Richter, some 1103 Paulsen

Our vineyard produces a distinctive wine with a consistently recognizable flavor from vintage to vintage. The wine is shaped by the physical characteristics of our mountain site — the shallow soil, the high elevation, the eastern exposure, and the cool sea breeze on summer afternoons. The shallow, well-drained soil restricts the growth of the vines and produces very small berries with intense color and flavor.

We planted this vineyard ourselves. When we first saw the land in 1985, it looked like a great site for winegrapes, but it was only after years of work that we could really know. When we were finally able to taste the results of our efforts in 1996, we realized that our decision to buy this land had indeed been a good one.

How can a mountain be part of a valley, you ask? Our vineyard is obviously not in the valley, but the legal definition of Napa Valley includes all the surrounding mountain districts as well. Mount Veeder is the coolest of all the Napa mountain appellations because it is the closest to the San Francisco Bay. We can see the bay from our vineyard.