Oakville AVA | Organic Overview

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Location

• Sources from its 66 acre vineyard on red, volcanic soils in the Vaca Mountains (think hot, chapparal country) in Napa's prestigious Oakville appellation; the 330 acre site is 1,100 feet above the valley floor, just north of the Atlas Peak region

• The wines are made at a custom crush facility

• Tasting is in a historic cottage or outdoor terrace on the Oakville vineyard property with spectacular views of Napa Valley

Best known for

• A power spot for great Cabernet, the winery's secluded, hilltop estate mostly grows grapes that (quietly) go in to some of Napa's most elite Cabernets

• Makes five estate wines from certified vines ($55-190, 90-95 pts.), including highly rated Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc

• The vineyard and winery was founded by the late Bob Miner, Oracle's co-founder, and is run today by Mary Miner, his widow; the couple purchased the property in 1989 as a getaway, where they could play tennis and relax, and were happy to just sell grapes for many years

• The tech entrepreneur died at the age of 52 (of pancreatic cancer); since his death, his family's philanthropy has supported many arts organizations in San Francisco, including the Robert N. Miner Auditorium at SF Jazz Center

• In 2005, the winery started farming organically, luring Sonoma's organic rock star vineyardist Phil Coturri to oversee the vines, which grow in red, volcanic soils, similar to the soils of the Sonoma side of the Mayacamas, his home territory

• The site lies below the western edge of Pritchard Hill and north of Atlas Peak; the Miners had to petition to be included in the Oakville AVA, as the property—at 1,100 feet of elevation—was originally outside the boundary

• The estate sells 85 percent of its coveted grapes to 10+ top tier wineries—Rosemary Cakebread, Helen Keplinger, Mark Herold, Thomas River Brown, Andy Erickson (Favia), Dalla Valle, Memento Mori, Dakota Shy, and Philippe Melka; some of the wines have won 100 pt. scores

•  The estate reserves 15 percent of its wines for its own Oakville Ranch brand; Jennifer Rue (who was formerly assistant winemaker here) is the winemaker

• The winery won three Double Golds at the 2015 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for its Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay and Field Blend

• Decanter rated its 2010 Cab 95 pts., and the winery #2 in a Napa and Sonoma tasting, calling  Oakville Ranch, "a sleeper among superstars" 

Organic vineyard case production

750 (out of 750 total)

Certified

Estate vineyards, organic, 2009, CCOF

$55

Tour and tasting; with an ATV ride through the extensive vineyards high above Napa Valley (by appt.)

CONTACT

Oakville Ranch

7781 Silverado Trail

Napa, CA 94558

707.944.9665

Website     |     Email     |     Facebook     |     Instagram

Location

• Sources its wines from its 48 acres of vines in Oakville (on the Napa Valley floor) and an additional 16 acres of vines on Mount Veeder in the Mayacamas Mountains (at 1,600 feet of elevation)

• The winery is located on the Oakville estate

• The tasting room is in a beautiful Howard Backen designed garden pavillon overlooking a picture perfect garden pond on the Oakville site

Best known for

• Elite Napa Cab producer making meticulously handcrafted Bordeaux blends; it's been dubbed a "First Growth"

• Makes four wines from certified organic estate vines ($80-250, 94-97 pts.)

• Inspired by a trip to Haut Brion at the age of 21, founder Leslie Rudd's dream was to create a multigenerational family winery, which he did, in 1996, after earning his fortune in the food and wine business, starting Dean & Deluca, building the 30 brand Vintage Wine Estates and other ventures

• He also bought and restored the historic Oakville Grocery (now owned by Jean Charles Boisset), started the restaurant PRESS Napa Valley, funded the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and his own Rudd Foundation, (providing scholarships in Kansas and support for Jewish charities), and the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at UConn

• In Oakville, Rudd transformed what had been a neglected, lackluster vineyard—the former Girard Winery—into a gem, bringing the red volcanic soils Oakville is famous for back to life; it's an impressive site on coveted ground—the neighbors include Bond, Joseph Phelps and Screaming Eagle

• In 2011, the winery began to move in the direction of organic farming, hiring Bordeaux trained winemaker Frederick Ammons to upgrade the vines and wines; Ammons in turn brought in vineyard manager Macy Stubstad, a Cornell University viticulture graduate, to convert the vineyards to organic practices and certification

• The two switched from using an outside vineyard management company to their own in house team; Stubstad heads a field crew of 15  who are employed year round, providing the winery with educated pruners and hands on care

• Biodiversity practices have also been implemented, with a field of sunflowers planted by the highway, sorghum revitalizing a fallow block, and sheep grazing

• Stubstad, who is one of the organizers of the Napa Organic Winegrowing conference, has stopped the use of fertilizer, and now sprays the vines with herbal and compost teas; she's also reduced anti mildew treatments by 75%, thanks to spore monitoring technology and attentive management

• On the winemaking side, Ammons brought in Bordeaux winemaking consultant Corinne Comme (her husband oversees Chateau Pontet Canet) to implement winemaking practices that could subtly enhance the expression of a sense of place in the wines

• The Oakville site has distinctly different soils—volcanic blocks and alluvial fan soils—giving Ammons a unique toolbox to play with

• To accentuate the differences in grapes grown on the two soil types, he had two different shapes of fermentation vessels made for the red wines—one designed for fermenting the grapes from the volcanic blocks and another for fermenting the grapes from alluvial fan soils—producing two different types of extraction

• Ammons also had concrete tanks created specifically for the white wines that are lined with rocks from the sites where the Sauvignon Blanc vines grow (on Mount Veeder), with the goal of supporting more development of their distinctive flavors

• Concrete eggs and terra cotta amphora are also in use

• After Leslie Rudd was diagnosed with cancer in 2016—he died in 2018—Rudd's daughter Samantha (age 31 in 2019) was charged with managing the estate, fulfilling his desire to have a multi-generational winery; she had previously worked at Spottswoode and Château Margaux to gain experience

• In 2018, she gave birth to her first born, a son named Rudd

• The winery produces four wines—a Sauvignon Blanc (from Mt. Veeder), a Semillon, the Samantha Cabernet ($175) and the Estate Red, a Bordeaux blend built for aging ($250)—and plans to increase production of the estate wine

• The winery has announced its launching a second label, Crossroads, which will debut a $30 Sauvignon Blanc and an $80 Cabernet, all made with the estate's organic fruit

• The Oakville estate buildings and landscape offer an aesthetic experience of their own with elegant and generous gardens created by Thomas Hobbs; the transparent tasting pavilion, overlooking a garden pond, was designed by the noted Napa architect Howard Backen

• Uniquely, Napa visitors can sample the Samantha Cabernet by the glass at the Rudd's nearby restaurant PRESS Napa Valley in St. Helena (next to Dean & Deluca)

• The produce at PRESS also comes from Rudd's Mount Veeder farm; olive trees on the estate also are made into oil sold at the winery

• In 2019, Rudd introduced a second label, Crossroads, with a $30 Sauvignon Blanc and an $80 Cabernet

• Among those praising the Rudd Estate wines is wine writer Karen MacNeil (author of the bestselling book The Wine Bible) who wrote of the 2014 Rudd Estate Proprietary Red (mostly Cabernet), that it was "uncannily fresh, vivid and pure"

Organic vineyard case production

3,000 (out of 3,000)

Certified

Vineyard, organic, 2018, CCOF

$125

Tour and tasting

CONTACT

Rudd Winery

500 Oakville Cross Rd.

Oakville, CA 94562

707.944.8577

Website     |     Email     |     Instagram

Location

• Sources its wine solely from its one acre, organic estate in Oakville (on the Silverado Trail) on the east side of Napa Valley

• The wines are made off site; they're for sale online to the mailing list (no tasting room)

Best known for

• Remarkable, tiny, under the radar, boutique family winery whose first vintage (2013) was poured at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley

• Makes one Cabernet, solely from its certified estate vines ($130)

• Henry and Cristina Lopez bought the property their vines sit on when they settled in Napa in the 1980s; Henry, an Alburquerque native, built their Santa Fe Pueblo style home on the four acre ranchette on the Silverado Trail in Oakville

• Cristina Lopez, a sculptor, supported the family with her artwork, while Henry, a scientist, launched his own lab company, MuriGenics, on Mare Island in nearby Vallejo

• The couple converted one acre of land to vines, certifying it organic in 2013

• Henry's fellow scientist, Brian Atwood, is also a partner in the winery

• Kendall Smith is the viticulturist

• The chickens roam the vines, helping to fertilize the soil

• Kurt Niznik (who also makes wine for the prestigious Continuum label) is the winemaker

• The international aspect of Napa's wine community is illustrated by the fact that winemaker is an American child of Mexican-American and Slovakian-Slovenian parents, Henry is a native of New Mexico, the wine is a French varietal and the name of the winery—Sylvie —comes from Cristina's Finnish mother 

• The winery's 2010 and 2013 vintages are both on the French Laundry wine list, a very prestigious placement for a tiny local label

Organic vineyard case production

100 (out of 100 total)

Certified

Vineyard, organic, 2013, CCOF

Sylvie Estate
7780 Silverado Trail
Napa, CA 94558

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