Putting Down Roots at Fortuna Vineyard

Posted: February 17, 2015

Our Fortuna Vineyard, up the road from the winery on the Western Oakville Bench, has always been special for us. It’s been recognized for the exceptional fruit it produces and the single vineyard wines we craft from it, and we’ve always been fans of the soil. We’ve just cleared acres of nearly 30-year-old vines that have had a great run, but are no longer in a position to give us the flavor density and characteristics that we’ve come to love from this site. We’ve selected four new clones of Cabernet Sauvignon suited for the amazing soil to plant in their place.

With history comes knowledge. What we’ve learned about that site, since its original planting in the early days of the Napa Valley wine industry, is that we need a new row orientation and spacing plan to shade the fruit from the sun exposure and rocky, reflective soils characteristic of this site.

The land will renew itself this vintage cycle with cover crops, and then we’ll plant the new vines in Spring 2016. We’ll see our first fruit in 2020.  Sure, it’s a bit of time to wait for the future to bear fruit (literally), but it will be stunning.  We can’t wait!