Description
Vineyard:
The grapes are sourced from our estate vineyards on the Silverado Trail in Calistoga, Napa Valley. The Calistoga AVA is the 15th AVA to be approved within the greater Napa Valley appellation.
Calistoga’s qualifications as an outstanding winemaking area were established when winemaking began shortly after the town was founded in 1857. The AVA is located at the northern end of the Napa Valley at the foot of Mount St. Helena where it has been blessed with a unique micro-climate and deep volcanic soils perfectly suited to vineyards. The growing season is warm to hot, depending upon the time of year; summer temperatures peak to 90’F (32.2″C) and fall to low 50s’F (11’C), the result of marine air from the northwest producing cool afternoon and evening breezes. The soils are almost completely of volcanic origin, soils range from rocky, stony loam on the hillsides, to gravelly or cobbly loams on the alluvial fans, to heavier clay-silt soils in the valley center areas.
Winemaking and Gellar Practices:
The grapes were hand-picked, in small lots, at the peak of ripeness, destemmed, cold soaked, fermented to dryness and gently pressed. The wine was then aged in a combination of 30% new
French and 70o/o neutral oak barrels.
Characteristics:
Italian immigrants from Tuscany probably introduced the Sangiovese grape to California in the late
J.800s. Sanguis Jovis, the Latin origin for the varietal name, literally means ,’blood of Jove,, and it is likely that sangiovese (aka sangioveto or san Gioveto) was known by Etruscan winemakers, although the first literary reference to it was in L722.lt is probably indigenous to tuscany, whose most famous wine is Chianti. Sangiovese wine varies greatly with the terroir of the vineyard. Our sangiovese comes from our estate vineyard in Calistoga and greatly benefits from the long hot growing season, producing ripe flavorful grapes. This wine is a favorite in our tasting room. The 2017 is 5% cabernet sauvignon, 95% sangiovese, medium bodied, with notes of cherry plum and vanilla, balanced acidity, smooth tannins and a lingering finish. one of the classic pairings in ltalian cuisine is tomato- based pasta and pizza sauces with sangiovese. we enjoy ours with rare steaks, roasted game birds, rich chicken and mushroom dishes.
