Throughout the continual challenge, change, and general mayhem of the past couple of years, we have found comfort and reassurance in the constancy of the vines. Their steadfast annual cycle repeats year after year, resulting in a harvest of fully ripened, beautifully flavored wine grapes – the raw material for world-class wines. We consider ourselves fortunate to have a cellar full of three beautiful vintages: 2019, 2020, and 2021.

Most of our current releases, and the wines you are receiving from us now, are from the powerful, concentrated, and gracefully layered 2019 vintage. Across the board, this vintage produced wines featuring classic Napa Valley fruit, tannins, and mouthfeel. The balance, layering, and finish from this vintage is truly extraordinary.

The first half of the 2020 vintage supplied picture-perfect weather patterns throughout Napa and Sonoma. Spring showers gave way to long and sunny summer days with cool mornings and temperate evenings and very little in the way of extreme heat. It was shaping up to be a magical vintage when the first fires broke out. We worked hard to harvest, ferment, test, taste, and test again everything that we could. In the end, we were able to produce quite a few wines, and they are tasting incredible in the barrel. It is a vintage of silky tannins and subtly layered and textured wines. There just won’t be as much wine to bottle as we would like.

The 2021 wines are resting in barrels, tucked away in our beautiful caves. This classic drought vintage produced small clusters and berries bursting with flavors. We think this will be a repeat of the 2019 vintage based on tastings so far.

As the weather warms, we hope to see you back in Oakville. Sit outside and enjoy some of Chef Derick’s spot-on wine and food pairings, taste these 2019 and 2020 vintage beauties, and bask in the perennially encouraging atmosphere of our estate vineyards.