Free Section: A Sneak Peak Inside Organically Napa

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Location

• Sources grapes from its own 151 acres of organic estate vineyards as well as from 70 acres more from Napa Valley growers

• The winery is housed in a historic 1888 barn in Rutherford (renovated in 1994) adjacent to the elegant farmstead tasting room and farm

• The grounds artfully integrate vines, beautiful gardens and picturesque fountains beside a farm area—with chickens, orchards, vegetable and flower gardens—with sweeping vistas of Napa Valley

Best known for

• The poster child for organically grown wines in Napa, organic and dry farmed since 1989, it's focused on healthy soil, organic farming and making elegant wines 

• Makes five widely distributed wines—Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, and Zinfandel—along with smaller lots of Petite Sirah, a heritage red blend, and a rosé; the wines are often priced affordably compared to many of their Napa neighbors ($20-95, 90-93 pts.)

• Proprietor and winemaker John Williams has grown the winery over 25+ years into a powerhouse producer, making 60,000 cases annually, and has transitioned almost all of its affiliated growers’ 70 acres to organic certification over the years

• Veteran vineyard manager Frank Leeds was voted 2013 Napa Grower of the Year by his peers

• In 2007, the winery increased its Rutherford holdings, buying the historic Rossi Ranch, with 50+ acres of vines; the estate provides much of Frog’s Leap Cabernet grapes now

• Proprietor John Williams and Frank Leeds are committed to historic varietals, making a heritage blend from Charbono, a Petite Sirah from a vineyard that has long been in Leeds’ family and a rosé of Valdiguie

• Frog’s Leap wines rank 19th among the most popular restaurant wines in the U.S., largely due to its Sauvignon Blanc (23,000+ cases made)

• The winery and hospitality center run solely on solar and geothermal power; the large, modern Victorian style tasting room (designed by Ned Forrest) was also the region's first Silver LEED certified building

• All the employees are full time and receive benefits and health insurance

• In 2014, in international competition, Frog's Leap was voted a Wine & Spirits Top 100 Winery of the Year (the seventh time it has won this award) and in 2016, its Cabernet won a Platinum award (the only U.S. wine to win at this tier) at the Decanter World Wine Awards

• Slow Wine gave the winery a Snail award, its highest honor

• New York Times wine writer Eric Asimov is a fan, writing that the winery makes “wines of balance and restraint … subtle and nuanced…table wines, not jammy fruit bombs”

Organic vineyard case production

55,000 (out of 60,000)*

* The winery says about 5% of growers are “practicing organic”

Certified

Estate vineyards, organic, 1989, CCOF; growers’ vineyards, various dates, CCOF

$25

Garden or cellar tasting (by appt.)

$35

Tour and tasting (by appt.)

$35

Seated tasting (by appt.)

Frog's Leap Winery

8815 Conn Creek Rd.

Rutherford, CA 94573

707.963.4704

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