The Vineyardist is one of those rare historical properties within Napa Valley that often fly under the radar. The original vineyards on site were planted in the early 1880s; the story begins with a Danish shipping captain by the name of Lorenz Petersen (born 1843). He fled his country in the mid 1860s to avoid joining the German army. He eventually made a small fortune from the shipping industry but promptly lost nearly all of it in the stock market during the financial crisis known as The Panic of 1873. This crisis came about because of a decreased international demand for silver.

Fast forward to year 2000 – husband and wife, Dirk Fulton (lawyer and real estate investor) and Betty Kukkola purchased the property, hired noted winemaker Mark Herold (incidentally, this was Mark’s first Cabernet Sauvignon project after he sold his own brand, Merus) and vineyard manager Jim Barbour and soon began to plant vines. While there are 120 acres on site, seven acres were initially planted to vines and later 17 more acres were added. Today there are 24 acres of vines (all farmed organically) ranging in elevation from 800 to 1300 feet – much of which is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon. The initial seven acres was planted to four unique blocks – two of which are planted on the exact same footprint as the original plantings.

Much of the property is a “rockpile” and the vines really struggle to grow here. There are a number of soil types on the property – much of which is volcanic (rhyolite). Their yields are fairly tiny as one would expect from this site – often merely 1.5 tons per acre.

Tasting Notes: aromas of ripe plum, blackberry, chocolate, cinnamon and other dessert spices. Shows plenty of fruit on the palate. Very good acidity and a long finish with noticeable but not overly gripping tannins.

Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: Diamond Mountain, Napa Valley, California