In Napa Valley, it’s all about fog on the vine
My recent visit to seven wineries in Napa Valley highlighted a fascinating distinction between valley floor and mountain wines.
“In Napa, vineyard site characteristics tend to show up more in wine made on a mountain slope than on the valley floor and benchlands,” explained Ashley Bennett, vineyard manager at Cain Vineyards.
Cain is one of Napa’s highest wineries, spectacularly sited 2,000ft up above the valley floor with views out to San Pablo Bay. Cradled in a bowl on the Mayacamas mountain ridge above the fogline, the vines are well protected from wind with good sun exposure. Like many Napa vineyards it was originally a sheep ranch with prunes, apples and walnuts until vine terraces were built in the 1980s.
“Our mountain soils are so fragile and thin, it stresses the vines creating small yields. Mountain grapes are smaller and skins thicker than on the valley floor, so our wines have more colour with bolder tannins, which need careful handling, but they age well,” said Bennett, demonstrating by comparing mature Cain Five 2006 with youthful 2012. “We also get distinct site botanicals in wines up here, like wild herbal elements from local tarweed growing amongst our vines.”
Napa has five distinct mountain AVAS (American Viticultural Areas) on either side of the valley ranging in elevation from 600 to 2,000ft: including Mount Veeder, Spring Mountain (where Cain winery is based) and Diamond Mountain on the west side of the valley – with Howell Mountain, Atlas Peak and nonava Pritchard Hill (where Robert Mondavi’s son Tim has developed Continuum winery) on the eastern side. The western side produces bold structured wines, whereas the eastern hills get more afternoon sun, ripening tannins and softening texture and mouthfeel.
It’s all to do with the fog; Napa’s airconditioning unit. In the mountains above the fogline there is no frost risk or big diurnal fluctuations. On the valley floors morning fog drenches vineyards, but the afternoon sun on the valley floor can reach temperatures 10 degrees higher than in the mountains, creating richer, lusher, more opulent wines.
On the valley floor, there are eight important AVAS, including the famous appellations of Oakville, Rutherford, St Helena, Yountville and Stags’ Leap. Valley floor soils are more alluvial and richer than on the hillsides. With warmer temperatures, more vigorous vine canopies, higher yields and larger berries, valley wines are more succulent, with uber ripeness.
Each Napa AVA has stylistic differences. For example, tasting at Shafer vineyards in Stags’ Leap District where the vineyards are on steep slopes on the eastern side, but not at high altitude, the wines have exotic black fruits, lushness and soft tannins. At Inglenook in Rutherford the cabernets were earthier and savoury and at beautiful Spottswoode winery in St Helena, the cabernets have gorgeous perfume, generous fruit and soft silky tannins – both very different from the sturdier mountain cabernets of Cain and Outpost.
“It is also not just about the difference between cabernet sauvignon from the hills and valleys, but the intervention of the winemaker is also crucial for determining the style of the wine – with ripeness of fruit at picking, the selection of the best fruit, handling the tannins in the winery and the use of new oak,” says Bennett.
Spring Mountain: Cain Cuvée NV2012
Great introduction to Cain’s style from 2012. Generous fruits, floral, herby, fresh acid with soft silky tannins. £22, Justerini & Brooks, www.justerinis.com
Spring Mountain: Cain Five 2006
Mature Napa mountain wine made from five Bordelais varieties. Strawberry, wild herbs, cedary with an underlying firm structure, mouthfilling rounded fruits. £85, Justerini & Brooks, www.justerinis.com
Stags’ Leap: Shafer TD-9 2017
Named after the late John Shafer’s first tractor, which he taught himself to drive after moving to Napa from Chicago. £59, Raeburn Wines; £62, Tanners Wines
Stags’ Leap: Shafer One Point Five 2016
Exuberant blackcurrant fruit style, silky soft tannins and chocolate vanilla notes.
£84, Woodwinters; £89, Tanners Wines
St Helena: Spottswoode Lyndenhurst Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
Generously fruity introduction to Spottswoode Estate’s opulent style of Napa cabernet sauvignon with a mix of valley floor estate and bought in grapes.
£70, Domaine Direct; www.
frw.co.uk
Rutherford: Inglenook Editione Pennino Zinfandel 2016
Blueberry, raspberry and rose petal aromas, lush texture, soft tannins, bright acidity with earthy, spicy notes.
£40, Highbury Vintners; Wines with Attitude
Rutherford: Frog’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
Bold forward style with plummy cedary aromas, earthy undertones slightly evolved with soft powdery tannins, built to last, but approachable now. n
£50, Woodwinters; Berry Bros; The Wine Society