Bart Araujo walking through a vineyard.
Vineyards
“Great Wines Are Made in The Vineyard”
Our wines are rooted in the integrity of our Napa Valley terroir—the climate and weather, geology and soils, slope and aspect, the way the sun traverses a vineyard through the course of a day, a season, a year. Working with the Eisele Vineyard for more than twenty years bestowed on us a deep appreciation for a terroir’s influence on wine.
At Accendo Cellars, we work with owners and growers who believe, as we do, that great wines are made in the vineyard. The vineyards we source today are a testament to that belief, and share some common characteristics:
- Unique terroir, with signature characteristics, found only at that site
- Consistency of the fruit every year
- Ability to produce high quality in challenging vintages (1998, 2011, 2017)
- Powerful but fine-grained tannins, affording early accessibility with ability to age effortlessly
Our core Cabernet vineyards are located in the “Gold Coast” of the western bench of Oakville and Yountville, viewed by most locals as the location of Napa Valley’s finest sites for growing world-class Cabernet Sauvignon: Vine Hill Ranch, M-Bar Ranch, Sleeping Lady. These core vineyards are complemented and complexed by unique and little-known treasures: Ecotone, Terravina at Upper Range, Diamond Mountain. Our Sauvignon Blanc is similarly benefited from sourcing from two uniquely different but complementary sites: Rancho Pequeño in Oakville and Ryan’s Vineyard in Oak Knoll.
The special people with whom we are fortunate to work are the common thread woven through each site, whether they are multi-generational family owners with their passionate commitment to the land; the great farmers who tend the vines; or viticultural consultants who coax each vineyard to reach its full potential. This dedicated and intensely focused group shares our viticultural philosophy, caring as much about the vitality of the land as the quality of the grapes grown. Our team members are drawn from Napa Valley All-Stars:
- Phillips Family, Vine Hill Ranch (Grapegrower of the Year 2011)
- Mike Wolf, Michael Wolf Vineyard Services (Grapegrower of the Year 2015)
- Larry Bettinelli, Bettinelli Vineyards (Grapegrower of the Year 2016)
- Pete Richmond, Silverado Farming (Grapegrower of the Year 2019)
- Francoise Peschon, Accendo Cellars (SF Chronicle Winemaker of the Year 2019)
- Nigel Kinsman, Accendo Cellars, Kinsman Eades Wines
- Steve Matthiasson, Matthiasson Wines (SF Chronicle Winemaker of the Year 2013; Food & Wine Winemaker of the Year 2012)
They are all “winegrowers” helping us to weave the unique nuances of each vineyard into a multi-layered, complex, compelling and very special wine. The difference can be tasted in the glass.
“We allow ourselves to be educated by the land. When you pay attention, it becomes very obvious whether your vines are reacting well to your practices. We were lucky enough to meet like-minded people who helped us convert our vineyards to organic and then to biodynamic practices. It may not be an inherent part of our region’s history, but it is definitely part of our future.”
