Since 1971, some of California’s most age worthy and intensely flavored Cabernet Sauvignons have been made from grapes grown at the Eisele Vineyard, located on an alluvial fan near the northern end of the Napa Valley, just east of Calistoga. Protected by the Palisades Mountains to the north and cooled by westerly breezes from the Chalk Hill Gap, this 38-acre vineyard is planted on well-drained cobbly soils that produce a low yielding crop of exceptionally concentrated fruit.

The wines produced in this remarkable place have a rare combination of forthright character with precisely defined flavors and fine textures, deep concentration without any sense of heaviness, and the capacity to develop profound complexity with age. The Eisele Vineyard was originally planted in the 1880s to Zinfandel and Riesling, and has been under vine continuously since then. The first Cabernet was planted in 1964.

The term terroir describes the unique environment of a vineyard, from its soils, slopes, and aspects to its climate, microclimates, and weather patterns. A memorable wine can nearly always be traced to the terroir of its vineyard. It is a wine that expresses an unmistakable sense of place.

The Eisele Vineyard is affected by two water courses – Simmons Creek, which bisects the estate, and a small perpendicular tributary flowing from the east. These waterways have spread an alluvial fan of volcanic cobbly soils from the surrounding Palisades Mountains, deposited by intense storms during the wet winters.

Between the creek bed and the foothills lie gentle slopes formed from soils that gradually settled through weathering and gravity. In summer, when there is scant rain in California and creeks are dry, groundwater is available only at great depth. This extraordinary soil configuration allows deep roots to seek moisture in the stony subsoil. Combined with the cooling Northwestern winds coming through Chalk Hill Gap, it allows the vineyard to fare seamlessly under climatic pressure and offer considerable consistency in quality. Vines growing in these dry, rocky soils produce very small berries of thick-skinned, intensely flavored grapes.

It is a gift to inherit a vineyard as well-respected and carefully nurtured as Eisele. The site, completely replanted in the 1990s, was farmed using organic and Biodynamic principles for over fifteen years prior to our acquisition. Managing a vineyard in this way is a years-long process requiring dedication and commitment, and we are grateful to Bart and Daphne Araujo who worked for decades to create a healthy, vibrant ecosystem. Building on this foundation, our work here is to evolve the vineyard ever closer to greatest heights. Employing the principles of integrated pest management, we've installed insectaries throughout the site as a way of attracting beneficial insects to feed on harmful ones. Owl and bird boxes host a variety of avians that prey on destructive moles and gophers. We've allowed one of our most prized blocks, Coyote, to remain fallow for over six

years to naturally rid it of a pest we could have eliminated in a more invasive, but less sensitive, manner.

Embracing the tenets of Biodynamics and seeking to restore to the vineyard any nutrients we remove, we spread bovine manure and compost “teas” throughout the property to improve soil nutrition and structure and suppress disease. We respect ancestral traditions, such as planting with attention to the lunar calendar and the timeless rhythms of nature. Our approach is not dogmatic, but we recognize the value of actions less tangible in nature. Biodynamic farming forces us to ask questions of ourselves, to acknowledge the mystery inherent in the land, in wine and winegrowing. It is a fascinating element of this journey of ours and resonates with our long-term view to leave Eisele Vineyard a better place.