So a very warm welcome to Everybody that is just joining us i can See you all Filing in so it’s a pleasure to Introduce this evening And wct school london’s webinar on A really kind of close look at the napa Valley and cabernet sauvignon So just a little housekeeping before we Kick off and you can see the chat please Say hello let us know where you’re Joining from in the chat There is a separate tab at the bottom For q a so if you have any questions For any of our panelists please pop Those in there And catherine will go through the Questions at the end Of the webinar we’ll be recording this This evening if you need to Duck out early or miss any of it it will Be available From tomorrow on the wct school london Youtube channel Or via our website um if you go to the Student information tab and webinar Recording so you can Come back to it if you’d like to Re-watch it at any point Okay so without further ado i’m going to Hand over to catherine boogey who will Take you through The napa valley thank you catherine Terrific thank you so much lydia
And hello to all the many students at The flagship wsct school london Until we i know we have a lot of hot Wine conference attendees and everybody Who’s Joining so happy to have you here i’m Catherine bouquet I’m a co-owner and head of wine Education At the napa valley wine academy and i Received my wsct diploma in 2010 And teach advanced classes like the wsct Level three And four i’m so just thrilled to be here Whether you’re studying or you’re Interested in exploring More deeply about napa valley cab renee And gustavo are going to demonstrate You know how natural factors influence Their grape growing and wine making Decisions And how this then affects the varying Styles of cabernet Made around the valley now don’t want to Go another minute further without Introducing my great colleagues Renee airy is vice president of Winemaking and duckhorn vineyards Winemaker In the wineries four decade history She’s only the fourth wine maker She approaches winemaking with a balance Between artistry Science and a deep respect for the
Viticultural side of wine making She guides the entire duckhorn portfolio And she crafts wines from the many Ava’s and makes her wine making choices Based On the fruits origins so perfect for our Discussion today So hello to to renee Everybody out there thanks for joining Sounds like people are Joining from all over the world so thank You for having me it’s a pleasure Terrific and then we have gustavo avina He’s been a cultural director at pine Ridge vineyards In his long career in napa valley He’s worked on many top vineyard Management programs He’s worked at newton vineyards he’s Worked with david abreu Gustavo has been with pine ridge since 2003 And has worked with their numerous you Know estate properties On all many different ava’s and as such He knows Very very well he has a deep Understanding of the soils And the climates across the many abas And that’s this includes howell mountain Which we’ll be discussing today And it’s the first vineyard that he Actually developed from the ground up So very exciting so hello gustavo
Hello everybody and welcome here and a Pleasure to be here Awesome so great let’s go ahead and dive In um i’ll start with a quick quick Prelude on natural Influences and a very brief trip around The valley Let’s begin with the foundational fact That the vine has Certain needs to create quality wine Right you need co2 you need heat Sunlight you need water and nutrients Latitude and climate will dictate some Of these things especially Like heat sunlight and rainfall but this Is only the part A very small part of the story of any Wine region and its wines This course in napa valley is a great Example of this It comes with of course the Mediterranean climate which is giving us Plenty of sunlight and heat during the Growing season However what ensures that napa valley Can produce premium wines Are the cooling influences that we get Here So i know a lot of you have probably Heard about the cooling influences from The san pablo bay in the south They bring fog and breezes to the valley And then we have the many different Altitudes and the
So different elevations and different Aspects of the mayakama’s mountain range In the west And the vodka mountain range in the east However what makes the valley Even more complex and fascinating is That the Effect of these different influences Varies around the valley and we’re going To be jumping into some of that today So really excited about that and of Course this affects The different styles of cabernet Sauvignon wine that we make So let’s start with that brief tour and We’ll start You know we’ll talk about sort of major Factors major natural factors And we’re going to be tying them to General styles of cabernet sauvignon Wine Before we take a deep dive with renee And gustavo Into some of these areas so in the south You can see it blocked off here We’ve got the cooler influence because As you can see with the water in the South That’s the bay and it’s bringing those Cool influences Right to that southern portion of the Valley Um there are also some western breezes That come across
You know through carneros that actually Add to this effect So we’ve got these nice cooling Influences and while most people don’t Associate You know carneros in particular with Cabernet sauvignon There are um you know in here you could See the brown that is the los caneros And up up you can see the brown Extending up Into the maya thomas mountain range There are warm enough temperatures there To ripen cabernet sauvignon however Here as well as you know in places like Coomsville And parts of oaknoll we really have this Great cooling effect that’s creating a General style of wine that’s Fresh vibrant fruit we have this Beautiful vibrant fruit with You know juicy acidity bright acidity So a general style of cabernet sauvignon That’s different From some of the areas that we’ll be Talking about you know of course Cabernet sauvignon has high natural Acidity Anyway and these areas only help retain That acidity in the grapes and then the Wine So let’s work our way up the maya thomas Mountain range and we’ll start in the South
Where we find the mount veter mount veda A lot of people call the coolest Mountain Um but because you know it’s the closest To that san pablo bay And the cooling influences it’s actually Heavily forested 85 percent of the ava um is forested Area but while mount veda has cooling Influences It shares a lot of similarities with Spring and diamond mountain to the north Each has a complex array of altitudes Elevations Aspects which is going to affect things Like Sunlight and heat causing the grapes to Ripen and develop flavors differently So even imagine just even on on one Mountain if you have different vineyards You’re going to have a complex array of Different flavors from the different Vineyards And even within one vineyard you can Have many different flavors because of Other influences like soils But i don’t want to i don’t want to go Too deep at the moment Rainfall is high here on the western Area Because you have storms that come in From the pacific And they precipitate over the mountains And sort of lose
Power as they go east so that of course Is going to influence your grape growing Um as well while the soil is different In general you’ve got marine soils You’ve got volcanic soils We won’t deep dive too much into into Soils right here The napa rocks program by the napa Valley veterinarians was great for that But we do have some shared features in The mountain areas which is Thin soils that are less fertile this of Course is going to produce berries That are smaller and with the smaller Berries You’ve got a larger skin to juice ratio And what that does is provide for some Good Tannins some nice firm tannins in the Wines amongst Other things so just something that Creates Nice age-worthy you know tannins and That’s going to affect The style of the wines from here in the Mountain where we’ve got Firm tannins high retained acidity And then these just complex you know Beautiful flavors Um from the mountain soils So here we have you can see blocked off Here you know the um Diamond and spring mountain but let’s go Across the valley let’s continue
With the mountain avas so we’ll go down The vodka range and here we have um You know elevation is also influencing The temperatures here But there’ll be the less rainfall than In the mycomas mountain range as i Mentioned This will only intensify the flavors That we find here in the mountain range Because there’s less influence of that Rainfall we’ll be exploring howell Mountain in particular In a few minutes both renee and gustavo Have estate vineyards there so we’re Going to go into a deep dive There’s just too many stories and micro Details you know that we We won’t be able to share today but i’ll Pause for just a minute You know interestingly you can see this Atlas peak here You know it’s one big rock and you know In the 1800s with the first plantings There They used dynamite to break up you know The rock And the very first winemaker on atlas Peak his name was romaine dabum You just can’t make up these stories um It’s just so great Um anyway but just below let me give a Point about just below atlas peak you See stag sleep And stack stag sleep is a great example
Of the incredible complexity that comes With the valley because while you see Its location Here and you expect warmth which it has There’s actually a series of hills that Run Parallel to the vodka mountains and so The breezes that come up from the south Are funneled through there giving some Beautiful breezes in the afternoon There’s so many little macro and micro Details like that you know along the Valley And of course we’ll be exploring some of Those But let me go to the valley floor so now We’re going to be talking about places Like yachtville oakville and rutherford Two of which we’re going to go into Quite deeply Today so when we talk about the valley Floor one of the main differences we Have You know is that we have more fertile Soils here And generally while we have fog Influence that comes up through Yawnville oakville and into rutherford It’s generally less so of course than in The south It just depends on where you are you’re Going to get some beautiful cooling Effects You know from from the fog in certain of
These areas And the breezes as well depending on Where your vineyard is is going to help Retain those acidities and the wines And we’re going to be exploring that at Some depth Now i didn’t mention you know we’ll just Mention it briefly although You know that napa rocks program talks About it more but in this area also There’s some famous Benches and what we mean by that is Think of a bench you know and if you’re Sitting on the bench it’s sort of you’re Sitting Going up towards the back of the bench Well that’s going up towards the hills Is the benches and the benches their Soils are even a little different Right they have soils that come down From the mountains you’ve got nice Rocky you know rocks that settle at the Base of the mountain and so the soils Are sort of in between the less fertile Mountain soils And the more fertile valley floor soils So the wines there just have great Fruit forward you know flavors But a little less tannin than in the Mountains So just just another amazing difference Here But we’re going to come back to this Area exploring oakville and rutherford
In particular In a minute let me just finish off Gustavo and rene are being very patient Let’s finish off with the northern part Of the valley And so here we’re going to have some Nice warm temperatures same lean in Calistoga Yet as i’ve been um discussing the Complexity here Two up here and i included the picture You know on the screen You’ve got fog that comes in through Breaks in the mountain range Up in the north as well there’s the Chalk hill gap That comes in you know through there Through that break in the coastal Mountain range And it can bring great fog and breezes Also from the north um so another thing To to consider In fact those breezes have such a great Effect That you know when i sit with one of my My um good friends Here has a vineyard on lower howell Mountain and that breeze comes through In the afternoon so you can sit outside In the hot summer temperatures and feel That beautiful breeze We joke around that we’re at the chalk Hill gap group just because of that that Awesome breeze lets us sit outside in
The summer Anyway um i want to now Start to deep dive into one of the ava’s That we’re going to be discussing today So we’re going to start with howell Mountain um and As i mentioned renee and gustavo both Have estate vineyards up here on howell Mountain So let’s talk about a little bit i’ll Prelude on hollow mountain Um testing their patience just a little Bit more And talk about the area before they jump In Um so when we talk about how a mountain We’re talking about an appalachian an Ava That starts at 1400 feet So if you’re on the mountain but your Vineyards fall through that You’re likely putting napa valley ava You know on your wine bottle so howl Mountain The boundary begins at 1400 feet So that means there’s going to be some You know that area is above the fog Level You’re gonna have some extra sunshine Hours during the day And daytime temperatures at this Altitude of course Are going to be lower but the evenings Stay
Warmer so what this did does Is you have a more even Diurnal you know there’s less of a Diurnal temperature swing And remember diurnal temperature swing Is the difference between Day and night time temperatures and so Generally in napa valley because of the Fog and the breezes we’ve got a Big diurnal temperature range but in the Mountain areas It’s less so so just keep that in mind Is one of the factors we’re talking About So you have what this results in is more Consistent ripening so everything ripens At the same time Versus the height that you know heat Spikes versus The cold um that that ying and yang that You can get So how mountain and the other mountains In napa valley can get Frost you know for any any of you level Three students out there who You know you’re learning about you know Altitude and how frost Sinks to the lowest point and you’re Thinking What are you talking about catherine Well here How a mountain is not actually a Mountain with a peak It’s a lush forested plateau
And so that’s why when we talk to Gustavo we’re going to be Talking about frost and things you can Do in the vineyard against that And of course we discussed about the Mountain areas having that thin Less fertile soils and gustavo and rene Are both going to bring in things that They do In their grape growing in winemaking Because of the grapes that result From that okay speaking of Speaking again about gustavo and renee I’m going to turn now to gustavo So gustavo i know this ava has a very Special place in your heart You know given that it’s the first that You went ahead and farmed from the Ground Up when we talked earlier before this Session You mentioned that it’s the coldest ava You know that you farm So can you tell us about it tell us About the climate here And how that generally affects your Grape growing Your decisions yes as as you went Through all different avias and napa Valley I mean we know napa valley is not a Really big area I believe it’s like 20 31 miles long And and we had a lot of micro clients
From different areas a lot of different Soil types And that’s one of the things that i Really like from my job that i have Different challenge depend Depending on which aba we are farming And i have to do different activities For expina for hba So it doesn’t become boring for me like Doing the same thing for Each vineyard so yes howard mountain to Me is one of the coolest Areas that we farm and because it’s in a Plateau There is a lot of frost risk In the area we have to ruin wind Machines and there The the the way that we prepare to do That is delayed in pruning Because the layers that you prune a bind The laters that you had a bad break So that’s that really protests with Bronze but From frost but also by doing that that’s One of the vineyards where we Ended to harvest last because the Season got longer and there so We had to delay pruning to do that also Just to see the difference we had wind Machines in the vineyard there A wind machine normally covers 10 acres In a regular armenian sites We have eight and a half planted acres In this property and we have three wind
Machines in there It’s basically one wind machine for Every three acres and that property While another was as i say yes like 10 10 acres for For wind machine also Uh we need to protect the vineyard for Frost early in the spring But also before harvest we can have Damage before harvest and actually Happens Uh i believe was 2010 when there was a Big frost Yes before harvest and a lot of Neighbors lost that grow because of rose Luckily we were on the property and we Turned our wheel machines and we Protected I have seen frost on that property as Early as september 16. I mean it seems crazy but uh it’s how The difference in temperature Between one area to another one then in The summer wherever we have a Warmer days and because we are about the Fog About 1800s about the fog the Temperatures remain Remain warm to the night so that helps a Little bit To catch up with the rest of the of the Ballet and in terms of the growing Season So do it to that because it’s a little
Bit warmer We decided to automatically the Irrigation in there So that way we can relay at night with Less evaporation happens So we have a substance where i can Irrigate from my house from With my cell with my computer i can just Set up irrigation And we do that to the night most of the Time so we Avoid evaporation of the water so the Mine utilize More the water that we apply so that’s One of the Big benefits that we have and believe me After we start doing that I will say this is the best fruit that We can bring to the winery Right now it’s a beautiful a beautiful Fruit coming from that vineyard i love That I love that so great so you’ve tied These sort of you know this cold Spring you know temperatures to frost Risk you’ve tied The hot summer temperatures right to Water availability and irrigation You know and i love hearing the details Just as You know delaying pruning because that Will delay the bud burst And then you don’t subject those young Beautiful you know buds
To the frost i mean just the the detail And everything you have to think about Is Is incredible um so fascinating can can You tell us about the soils on gustavo In your in your vineyard and how this Affects your farming Yeah the soils are completely different Than the valley floors where there are Rich and loyal soils will require more Crop thinning more canopy management be To control buying vigor here we are Constantly making soil And tissue analysis to see what the bind Needs because There is some ash volcanic tap soil Which are very rich in minerals but low In nutrients and by doing those tissue Analysis and soil samples We know what the mind needs and we and Then to apply Uh foliars like manganese potassium Phosphorus Calcium magnesium through that foliar Sprays and also we apply a lot of Compost speed to the irrigation compost Tea i see a lot of benefit from that Because it contains like Custom worms and to me applying compost Tea to the ground is like a returning Life to that to the ground and it goes Directly to the roots of the vine So by by doing that i have seen a lot of Difference in the
On the vine like darker green colors Than the leaves And also we have significantly Seed a lot of reduction in water by Applying compost tea Oh so even the vineyards get a tea break I love it yeah We do that well this is really Insightful good stuff because advanced Students You know especially they require an Understanding of sort of soil structures Effects you know on nutrient Availability and of course water Availability And so once again sort of exemplifies How natural factors Here the soil are going to affect the Different great growing Options you know that you employ um i i Just i find this stuff fascinating So let me go ahead you know i didn’t Show um i’m remiss I didn’t show you your vineyard you know Here um on gustavo Um so pardon Um that but i’m gonna move off to renee Renee Also you know um brings in fruit has an Estate Um on howell mountain and here is Duckhorn stout vineyard Um renee we look to your expertise to Tie natural factors on howell mountain
To general great characteristics and Thus winemaking you know options that You then employ And i know when we spoke before this Session because there’s Hundreds maybe thousands you know of Things you have to consider When it comes to you know cellar Techniques Um you decided on on honing in on three Of them and you’ll repeat these three Through the different areas that we Discuss and so i know you chose um Juice chemistry and must adjustments you Chose extraction And tannage management and you chose Oak treatment and aging would you tie Some of the natural Influences we’ve been discussing you Know to What you see in hello mountain from the Great characteristics and then You know what you you know choices you Make in the cellar Absolutely yeah like uh like gustavo Um we work with a lot of different adas At duckhorn and so it’s always So cool to see how every vintage is Different In every a aba has has these little Subtle differences or Something teaches big differences and It’s neat to kind of work with all those Different areas and kind of see what
They do Each year but how mountain is is by far One of my favorite ava’s to work with Similar to gustavo it’s just it’s so Different Um our scout vineyard has similar soils And microclimates to the pine ridge Estate vineyard it’s located about 1900 To the elevation And with that inversion those warmer Nights and cooler days The ph’s are going to be on the higher On the mountain than they are on the Valley Floor so what that does is with for Coming into the winery is it It prompts a larger organic adjustment For us at crush And we don’t always do acid adjustments But in this case we will And our post-press phs Typically for our mountain fruit tend to Be in the range of about 3.7 and 3.85 Whereas a lot of the time you’ll see Much lower numbers on the valley floor Will be more between three five five Three six and up to three seven So um there’s definitely a difference There but ultimately with those smaller Berries and thicker skins and bigger Tannins I have to be extra mindful of Extractions So all of our wines get two pump overs a
Day But with our hell mountain fruit what I’ll do is i’ll go a little bit longer On the pump over timing at the beginning Of the fermentation When there’s less alcohol present so You’re kind of limiting That extraction from the presence of Alcohol And then as the timing progresses and The fermentation progresses We’ll kind of shorten the pump overs Once i get about 12 breaths So kind of again just looking at Extraction and seeing how that plays Into the mix because ultimately With these really big tannins and A lot of concentration coming off the Mountain you have the tendency to over Extract on these lines so the other Thing that i keep in mind on our Mountain wines is just how we introduce Air into the fermentation And so i like to introduce oxygen early On with our how mountain wines And it’s really just to help finesse Those big rounded rugged tannins so Whether that’s for You know a tub and screen or inventory Just an easy way to kind of get some Oxygen into those wines early on And kind of help starting the process to Refine them a little bit And then along those same lines because
Of the intensity of tannins and Concentration of fruit the whole Mountain wines they lend to Amazing ageability these are some of my Favorite wines to put the cellar And 30 years later they are going to Show absolutely incredible So because of that we will barrel age Our hound wines for 24 months Which is six months longer than what we Do for our valley floor wines And then on top of that we’ll do an Extra year of bottle age time So um so that extra you know 18 months Of time is really just going to help With that evolution of tannin with the Integration so when you open your first Model it’s amazing But ultimately we’ll do 18 months the First 18 months in barrel will be in 100 New french oak and then we’ll follow That with six months of 100 Neutral low and it just has this really Nice balance And allows a great age ability with These wines Great and that is such incredible detail I think we’re all going to have to go Back and watch the tape version you know Of this of this webinar Um so that we can we can um hear it Repeated But just incredible and i love just the Connection you know of
Tannins in particular you know these Mountain tannings that you have And then what you then employ in the Cellar um And then also just the detail because Even at the level three I know there’s a lot of diploma students Um you know here today with us but even The level three you’re You’re learning that hey when you’re you Know when you talk about You know maceration and extraction of Tannins You know it just um there’s less it’s More color and flavors that are coming Out when you do it pre like a cold soak But during fermentation with the heat And the you know alcoholic solution Then you have more tannin and extraction So Just anyway just fun great details um What do you then expect renee from the Style You know of wine and of course i know There’s many different factors but Just sort of the general style um that People can hear about a howl mountain Wine Sure our helmet and wines are some of The most distinct in my portfolio They drive a lot of concentration Complex Firm rugged tannins with that high Elevation it really kind of drives those
Like rugged mountain tannins Um but then also we always see this Really wild fruit profile which is Really neat a lot of like Boysenberry blackberry huckleberry but More of those kind of brambly notes Coming through And then because the soil up there is a Little bit richer in minerality you’ll See that Translated into the wine as well so You’ll see the minerality and Spice and some savory goods coming Through That sounds delicious gustavo i know you Have your you know howl mountain wine And you you talk to me you know about You know Your wine as well do you do you want to Say you know a few thoughts on yours Yeah so accurate pine ridge we we made Wines from Five different ava’s like we made wine From Oakville through the four star sleep Howell month and now carneros we make Cavernessavion for Those five abas for everybody unless Here at pine trees they know how amanda Is my favorite wine That’s a lot of going into that my Personal Thoughts about that because to me Drinking a wine from cowell mountain i
It always came to my mind the property The trees around the sun of the wind the Woodpeckers over there and that On the forest and and to me the wine Is one of the it has a bigger structure From all pine ridge wines Which cuts more tannins The color is really dark and very small Berries very small clusters which casts A lot of concentration So that’s uh a bigger structure Definitely it’s a bigger wine for me and And i really love that That’s great that one sounds amazing Amazing as well Well let’s go ahead and move off to our Second ava that we’re going to be Discussing And that’s oakville and when we talk About oakville if you recall You know this we’re talking about an ava That lies on the valley floor Mostly bear with me as i explained Um when we talk about oakville you may Have noticed on the napa valley ava map You know that when the avs avas were Created You know they separated out mountain Avas From valley floor avas so they were Carved out separately The regulating body though the atf Decided that with oakville they’d extend That ava up on the east up to a thousand
And six feet and they did that because This Area is just an uplifted you know from Volcanic activity This was uplifted having the same exact Soils as the valley floor So they made that adjustment in that Usually Separate valley floor from mountain Delimination And allowed this in oakville You know when i show this um to my Students i like to joke around You know do these boundaries make my aba Look fat Um but anyway uh let’s go ahead to some Of the um unique qualities that we’ll Find you know here in oakville it’s a Transitional Mid valley location here in oakville and What that means is in the south of the Ava in particular You will still get the influences of the Fog But the area generally is going to get The full effect of the warmer afternoon Sun so we’re going to expect that heat And that ripeness here There are however afternoon bay breezes That come in from the south And also down from the mountains so a Lot is happening a lot is happening here And i know gustavo and rene are going to Touch on this
Um as well as the east and west are Quite different In the east is these mineral-rich Volcanic soils which have washed down From the vodka you know mountain range And and i know there’s many different Types of volcanic soils and they all Have their different pluses But generally there’s low fertility here And that’s going to encourage small Berries with nice concentrated fruit Here as well In the west we’ve got these alluvial Soils and when we talk about alluvial Soils those are Soils that have come down a mountain Stream and Settle at the base of a mountain and so Those soils can be Nice and rocky you know we just we Discussed the bench Soils you know earlier and you’re going To have You’re going to have some of the great Draining soils by the way But you’re going to end up having some Nice ripe flavors in those wines You know but the tannins won’t be as you Know aggressive as Some of the mountain areas but um I’m going to let i’m going to let Introduce gustavo’s vineyard here And let him um talk about this i think This is your dos
Olivos vineyard gustavo what different Techniques and considerations do you Make in oakville yeah those olympus Is uh it’s a vineyard that isn’t The aba and alveolar in general is is Warmer It’s a warm like 90 degrees an average All the time A lot of sun exposure on this specific Vineyard Signs the morning to sunset it is always Exposed to the sun So due to that we have to do cannabis Management a little bit different Especially on those roads where we don’t Have a perfect road orientation So we have we have a few blocks there Where where The fruit received the afternoon sun Directly to the clusters So we had to manipulate like growing More laterals on the afternoon sunshine Just to create some type of shade in There To avoid a sunburn You mentioned you mentioned a preferred Row orientation can you Tell us a little bit about that yeah i Really like uh And the new blocks that i am planting i Use in i use in Northeast southwest so the sun At the time the fruit is ready is Running pretty much over the road so it
Doesn’t cause the Sun brunda ecause and the other raw Orientation that i have yeah Norway southwest is my preferred Orientation Um okay so great to consider you know That as well Um let’s go back to renee so renee can You tie Some of these influences we’re Discussing two great characteristics Again and winemaking choices that you’re Making Yeah yeah we um our vineyards in Oakville um Are on kind of the eastern mid valley Side so they’re definitely a little bit More of those transitional vineyards That you were referring to And um with the fog in the morning and The afternoon breeze we Typically see really good acid retention In our oakville fruit So this really allows us to back off on Those acid adjustments at the must stage And the resulting lines typically have Much lower ph’s than up on hal mountain Which is really nice Our vineyards like gustavos see a lot of Sun exposure We have um quite a few different row Orientations as well And some of them are not ideal you get a Lot of that west facing sun
Um and so i have to be extra mindful of Picking decisions and obviously shrivel In that scenario and so um so for any Rose that have kind of that heavy west Facing side In the afternoon um what i’ll do is i’ll Do a split Uh pick or i’ll kind of shoot for the Middle ground knowing that the west side Is going to be a little bit riper The east side is going to be a little Bit less ripe and kind of find that Middle ground that little bit of balance There and i’ll kind of pick it up Um so being kind of more towards the Eastern side of Oakville some of our vineyards have Heavier soils And so they just show less density so What i do with those wines is I like to do a three-day cold soak and We’ll do that at 45 degrees That’s pre pre stats for Pre-fermentation And it really helps build up the mid Palette This is something that cold soaps are Traditionally known to help Stabilize color and but they’re a great Tool for building mid palette and Textured weight in the wine So i started doing those on all my Merlots in 2007 And now we use them on some of our
Heavier kind of soil area cabernet’s So typically our oakville fruit has as Good Concentrated fruit and firm resolved Hands As long as the vintage isn’t too warm And so we don’t necessarily need to give These wines as much As much oxygen up front so And then uh our oakville wines are made At 50 new french oak and they’re aged For 16 months Which is less oak than hal mountain and A slightly A shorter aging time and this really Just allows the fruit to shine through And still have enough support and Framework for Um complexity and long-term ability And then the other the other thing i Like to do with my oval lines Is that i use this slow and low toasting And what that does is it kind of Enhances a little bit of sweetness in The palette and creates breath in the Lines which is Which is really nice for the heavier Soiled areas That sounds delicious um but you know From what i’m hearing you there’s Quite a lot of differences on what You’re doing you know with Tin and management with your oak Treatment you know between
Halo mountain you know and here in Oakville i just find this i just find This incredibly fascinating Um can you can you sum this up um renee With just you know some thoughts i know That it’s very different from east to West in oakville Um but just to sum up of a general style Of oakville Cabernet sauvignon sure yeah our Oakville wines typically show a mix Of riper red fruits um so maybe like Riper cherry Currants we do see some black fruits the Texture is generally pretty rich And then depending on the vintage you’ll Kind of see some subtle differences in The body But definitely that brighter acidity Coming through from like i said that That morning fog and that afternoon Breeze Just really allows for good acid Retention in the oakville lines And it really comes out as this nice Brightness So just more affirmation about that Those natural influences that fog and Breeze is making all the difference In helping retain this this bright Acidity in the wines Uh i love this um okay so um I get excited at the geeky things so Let’s go ahead and move off to
Rutherford the third area we’ll be Talking about today and we’ll finish up Here in rutherford what i think is Fascinating is it’s just north of Oakville So they share a boundary yet even here We’re going to be showing differences In grape growing and wine making so i Think this is a fun You know choice to have here we’ve got I’ll just Turn off to the to the to the picture so You can look at the picture instead of The map But the fog you know also can seep into The rutherford Area but it’s slightly warmer here You know gustavo and rene are going to Discuss things like the soil and the Elevation differences that even You know appear here so gustavo Let’s start with you again please uh and Now we’re seeing this is pine ridge’s Rutherford ridge vineyard Um can you touch on on sort of climate Or macro and microclimate Uh and the soils here and what you now You know employ differently in Rutherford Yes this vineyard is in general A little bit warmer than ogdeol and how Almond Occurs and We we still had the benefit of the
Marine fall In the mornings but uh still it’s kind Of one of the warmest areas Probably and in this vineyard we have Two different types of soils we have in The vineyard we had a Flat area and then we had heels there And the soil ties from one to the other One is Very different for example and uh on the Highs On the the picture that you see is on The very top of the hill there So the the soilless bay clay loam Which casts a lot of rocks and drains Very easily So irrigation there we need to Manipulate Very carefully we have to regain I will say compared to the valley floors Less Water but more frequently to be able to Keep some moisture Around the root zones while end up on The floods of the property We have a really heavy clay soils which Has a lot of Holding water capacity but also That clay retains the water and doesn’t Get the plant to absorb much of that so We have to do Deep irrigations with bigger amounts of Water But uh with longer longer period of
Times with longer frequencies So yeah the heavy claims are a bit Different we need to do Cover crops in those areas to Two different reasons for example in the Hills we grow cover crops Based on grasses that helps to hold the Soil to avoid Erosion problems while on the floods we Plant a lot of legumes like Uh alfalfa beans and all Common veg all those legumes that we mow And teal and incorporate to the soil to Give a little More nitrogen to the to the vines So that’s uh that’s way different to To manipulate one area from the other One there Just you know here i mean soils even in One ava Right with the the differing soils you Have to employ the different Irrigation techniques Yeah and and due to that also We have a sun soil sensor moistures On the ground and we also have a sensors That read evapotranspiration of the Vines to the terminate Irrigations like the valley floors we Have those Soil sensors and the heels we have the Evapotranspiration on Sensors and basically those sensors Telling me how much the
How much water the wine used through the Day how much water Applied back to the binds so we have to Combinate those tools to determine Irrigation so such such Detailed information that’s informing Your your decisions you know the options That you have you know in your grape Growing I think that’s great well renee if we Can go off um to you and talk about you Know given it slightly warmer here What characteristics do you see here With the rutherford fruit that you deal With And thus you know the the different Techniques you’ll then employ in the Cellar Our rutherford vineyards are on the Eastern side Um of the bench there so a little bit Further Over than where gustavo’s vineyards are And then with rutherford being slightly Warmer than oakville we will see those Higher sugars So the bricks will creep up a little bit More and Um and then lower also acidity so It’ll require an acid adjustment and a Water adjustment at the most stage That’s pretty typical for us tannins are Generally firm but they’re more polished Than oakville and howell mountain
They’re a little bit more Giving um kind of round and fine grain And so we can typically ferment Warmer with those wines than we do with Our Our mountain wines and then we can also Press a little bit harder without Risking over extraction which is Which is nice so our rutherford cabernet Um it’s also aged for 16 months at 50 New french oak Similar to what we do for oakville but i Can use more Impactful barrels on these wines to kind Of enhance that structure and build up a Little bit more of that framework Because the fruit there is just so Giving so expressive It can handle a little bit more tannin To kind of help set the framework for Again you know just incredible you know Detail what you Do that you know is different could you Once again For us just sum up you know just you Know sort of a general style of Rutherford Wine for our audience now our rutherford Cabernet is typically Really fruit forward it’s one of the Most fruitful kind of plush Fruit expression wines that we have in Our portfolio there’s always a mix of Blueberry blackberry there’s black
Cherry that kind of peeks through Currants so a lot of different types of Fruit So it gets really complex really layered And then the palette is full bodied And those tannins are round they’re Supple they’re Polished they’re there and certainly Present but they just have a little bit More of a rounder fine-grained feel to Them That’s great good thank you so much well We have we have So many things that you know we Discussed already today we have the Mountain fruit where we have the firmer Tannins and the highly concentrated Fruit flavors From the smaller berries with great Complexity of flavor And retained acids you know from from The altitude And on the valley floor you know while We have those two You know adas that are close to one Another we have differences yet again Oakville with its ripe fruits rich Texture Bright acidity and rutherford with its Full-bodied fruit forward you know cabs And supple tannins um i mean the valley Is just great Diversity you know here with the varying Altitudes and aspects and
You know the extent of the fogs and the Breezes and the soils and It’s just really you know leading to an Array of different cabernet sauvignon Styles here You know i find it fascinating enough But also for all of you students out There who are studying You know i hope to that you gain some Insight from this So that you can better answer you know You’ll have exam questions like You know describe grape growing and wine Making options for napa valley cab Or am i starting to make some of you Nervous um You know or how do factors in the Vineyard and winery influence the style And quality of cabernet sauvignon Um so these are questions that diploma You know students are faced with and Probably in other programs As well so i’d love i see that there’s All these Um um q and a’s coming in um so If i’d like to now open it up to some of These questions Um so let me look here and see what’s Coming in um We do have a question about gustavo Um a question about your compost tea Can you explain a little bit more is is It You know a liquid you know compost
Yeah it comes in a liquid form and That’s made here locally And calistoga so yeah they They put compost on the brewer and then Put Custard grounds on it and we get it from Then and we have 24 hours to apply that Into the soil because remember This has a live organism on it and we Apply that to the irrigation So when we get it from there 24 hours That’s the maximum other ways The custom worm will will be dying and There So that’s a very useful uh Thing to use in the and uh on the soil Good thank you for that gustavo i do see Several Several people asking sort of the same Um questions so maybe i’ll Ask renee to answer this one but you Know Are these three areas mostly cabernet Sauvignon or are there other Red varieties or even any whites grown Here Hey um catherine just if we could take a Moment before i dive in to answer that Question i’ve Been seeing some chat pop-ups saying That people are having a really hard Time Hearing me and i just wanted to check in I changed a few of my settings and i was
Wondering if that’s any better at the Moment And i apologize i’m not sure You know for me it was just a little Tinny but i could hear you Clearly so let’s just see if we’re Getting any um let me look at the chat It looks like i’m seeing some come Through Sorry about that um yeah we Um these abas are certainly known for Great cabernet but we have a lot of Other varietals grown in those uh Regions as well so up on hal mountain i Have growns up there i have zinfandel I have the rest of the bordeaux Varietals as well and they do excellent Um oakville and rutherford also have White varietals growing there there’s a Lot of Other bordeauxs so um it being Such a diverse like within the aba and Then obviously the scope of happen There’s just so much diversity Sometimes even within the same vineyard That you could have you know cat burning On one side surround the other In somebody walk there which is really Kind of the neat part about growing wine And making wine in napa valley It’s just it’s all that diversity There’s so many so many differences So yes we do we do grow a lot of other Varietals there as well
Now i i love that and just you know when You start to explore the valley i mean You even realize that You know there’s um you know an oak Knoll there’s this beautiful riesling up On spring mountain there’s this Beautiful riesling you know being grown In fact Historically so in the 1800s um the Behringer brothers you know grew Riesling up there There’s so many great stories and and And what not to Um to share i know we sort of top lined It today Um but let me just see what other Questions are coming in Um i know that we’re being asked for you Know the maps That were included in the presentation Today just know that You know the napa valley ventners has a Wealth of information on their site And so you can find um you know maps There if you look for the The napa valley vintner um site which Also has that napa rocks program Um that i mentioned to you where you Take you know because so there’s so much Going on here geologically You’ve got bedrock that then that’s Affecting the soil There’s so much you can learn and again In napa rocks
And i do see that there’s a question too On just ah how could we ever You know that the the area of napa Valley seems so Incredibly complex is there any place we Can go One of my so i’ll just share one of my You know favorite books Um from swinshat and howell the Winemakers dance Um i just love this exploring terroir in The napa valley But it’s a geeky it’s a geeky dive Um but i think it’s just an incredible Incredible book So let’s see let’s maybe take two more Um questions You know we are being asked um you know About the The 2020 fires and i know a lot of People You know um um you know want to know Just a little bit about that Do you um want to speak about that at All um gustavo Yeah so we all know about the 2020 fires Happening in napa And many people thinks that there is no 2020 vintage which is incorrect Yes the vintage will be always Really small because a lot of the fruit Was damaged some companies decided not To Harvest the fruit because they had a
Smoke tan But some companies harvested the fruit Because the Vineyard wasn’t in an area adjacent to The fires So there are good vineyards that they Give us Good food so the vintage is there 2020 Is there a small amount Yes but we have a 20 20 vintage and And actually i have to say that the Damage is That and the fire’s damage should have Been touched but i could be one of the Best Vintage that we ever had it’s justifiers But i i keep hearing that you know the Wine that was produced You know it’s just incredible um you Know and renee i think You made you know wines as well We did yes i mean clearly this vintage Was 20 20 was a challenging vintage um There’s there’s no Way around that but like gustavo and Pine ridge Um we left we had to leave a lot of Fruit out in the fields Which was certainly not ideal but the Fruit that we brought in I honestly i’ve sat down and tasted Through so many of these wines now At various stages and i am finding
Myself Really excited about the wines that are Sound they’re tasting Great um i think we’re gonna i think You’ll all be very excited about the Lines that come out from the 2020 Vintage the ones that were made and that Were sound And we were able to bring in so we’re Hoping and looking forward to sharing Those with you I love it and so we have here you know Also because we talked about some of the Ava’s In detail there’s a few questions coming In About you know do you blend you know Across Ava’s do you want to talk about that um Renee Being a the winemaker yeah that’s that’s A great question so we do Um we have our napa valley tier core Wines we make a napa valley cabernet and A napa valley merlot And we also do a sauvignon blanc and a Chardonnay and for us The idea with that wine is really to Kind of highlight the diversity of that Varietal within the valley So we build cross blend different abas And Really kind of working with those great Little pockets throughout the valley and
Those great Sources but what we’ll do is we’ll blend Them to kind of be the best Representation of Napa valley cabernet um our hal mountain Fruit is we do two bottlings from up There they’re both a state one of them Is the how mountain cabernet and that we Also make a merlot from our stout Vineyard So that kind of stays it’s it’s more of An ada Wine and similar to our rutherford and Oakville where it’s about a six to seven Hundred pesos small production modeling That Just focuses on you know fruit from that One ada But we do have other wines that will get Cross-blended Makes me wish it wasn’t morning over Here so that we could enjoy a wine Time for a glass i think I like your style so i want to thank you Renee gustavo i want to thank you so Much for today in that deep dive You know again i think we all need to Re-watch this and And and again watch these connections You know between these natural Influences that not only affect great Growing But also the fruit characteristics and Therefore
You know the wine making options Available Um and and then all of this resulting in All these Various styles of cabernet sauvignon and Imagine we’ve touched we went on a deep Dive in just three of the ava’s Um i think our heads would explode if we Tried to cover them all today But anyway thank you thank you so much Once again for Um being on the panel you guys are great And i want to thank lydia the wsct And connor from the napa valley vintners Um this has just been been A joy um to to have be on this session Thank you thank you It’s been a pleasure thank you for Having me