Decanter

Plans for the future

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The massive wildfires of 2017 took their toll; there will be no Mt Veeder Cabernet from the vintage. The end of the year saw the departure of Rob Mann, who returned to his family’s winery in Australia; and of Jean- Guillaume Prats, who left to become the CEO of Château Lafite-Rothschild.

But the direction for Newton, and its future quality, is set. A more elegant label design will debut with the 2015 vintage, while Alberto Bianchi, Mann’s assistant winemaker, has taken on his role. Two single-vineyard Chardonnay­s, one from Carneros and one from Knights Valley, will be available at the winery.

The woman taking Prats’ place, Margareth Henriquez, seems the right person for the next part of Newton’s transforma­tion, changing its image with wine lovers, as she did so successful­ly at Champagne Krug. ‘ I have visited Newton and have always loved this house,’ she says. ‘ It has what you need to make great wines: a beautiful terroir, talented people and a place you will not forget.’ The next phase is about to begin.

When he realised Domaine Chandon, also owned by LVMH, was selling grapes from its best Cabernet vineyards in Yountville (near Dominus) and Mt Veeder (near Mayacamas) to other wineries, he grabbed them for Newton.

Most importantl­y, he hired Rob Mann, a winemaker who shared his stylistic affinities. Mann had temporaril­y left Cape Mentelle in Western Australia to make the wine at Newton during the 2007 vintage and written a blunt report. ‘The wines were old-fashioned and stale in both packaging and style,’ Mann says. Prats agreed, giving him a brief: go and make great Cabernet at Newton.

The overhaul

Fortunatel­y, LVMH had plenty of resources to underwrite a total revamp and Mann had definite ideas about what needed to be done. He’s a Cabernet classicist, not a fan of alcoholic, oaky fruit bombs – Philip Togni’s is his favourite Spring Mountain Cabernet.

‘Before the 2014 harvest, we tossed out 70% of the oak barrels in the winery,’ Mann says, as we hike up to look at Cabernet vines protected from the sun by shade cloths. He reduced the amount of new oak and the time wines spent ageing in barrels, and picked earlier for

‘I see Napa moving away from the Bordeaux model towards the Burgundy model’ Jean-Guillaume Prats

freshness and lower alcohol. But rethinking the vineyard was a bigger challenge.

By the end of 2017, Mann had replanted 70% of the Spring Mountain vineyard, pulling out the Merlot and vastly increasing the proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon. He changed to cane pruning so that the grapes would suffer less under the hot sun and also used his Australian experience to improve the supply of water. What’s more, all of the vines are now farmed organicall­y.

Perhaps the biggest and best decision was to focus on terroir – part of a global trend – rather than on brand. ‘I see Napa moving away from the Bordeaux model towards the Burgundy model,’ explains Prats.

The three unfiltered wines now function as second wines. Newton’s iconic Bordeaux-style blend, The Puzzle – a hallmark of the winery for 20 years – originally incorporat­ed the best grapes from the Mt Veeder, Spring Mountain and Yountville vineyards. But with the 2014 vintage, it’s all Spring Mountain.

‘2014 was a great vintage,’ says Mann. ‘Tasting the separate lots from each vineyard, they were so different I knew we had to start making three single-vineyard wines, and let the terroir shine through.’

They’re impressive, aiming at the very highest Napa level, but not quite there yet.

Elin McCoy is an award-winning journalist and author who writes for Bloomberg News

 ??  ?? Alberto Bianchi
Alberto Bianchi
 ??  ?? Above: Newton vines on Spring Mountain
Above: Newton vines on Spring Mountain

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