Region

Oakville Wine

Oakville is one of California’s most renowned wine regions, sandwiched between Rutherford and Yountville in the very heart of the Napa Valley. Since Napa began its meteoric rise to international wine fame in the 1960s, Oakville has remained at the core of the valley’s success, gaining worldwide recognition for its opulent Cabernet Sauvignon and voluptuous Merlot wines.

The origins of Oakville’s viniculture date back to 1868, when Henry Walker Crabb set up his first vineyard there. Fittingly, given the local surroundings, Crabb named the vineyard To Kalon (kalon means “highest beauty” in Greek) – a name retained by Robert Mondavi when he purchased the site almost a century later. Immediately south of To Kalon is Heitz Cellar’s famous Martha’s Vineyard. Together, these two vineyards make some of America’s very finest Cabernet Sauvignon wines.

Along with Mondavi and Heitz, some of Napa’s most prestigious and well-known wine names are found within the AVA’s bounds. Harlan Estate and Far Niente can be found in the lower reaches of the Mayacama mountains on the western side of the valley, while Screaming Eagle and PlumpJack can be found closer to the Vaca mountains on the other side. Many other producers from around Napa and Sonoma source grapes from the To Kalon vineyard to make prestigious, ageworthy wines.

Abundant sunshine and warm temperatures allow Oakville’s vines to reach optimal maturity over the course of the growing season, producing deep, richly flavored wines. The AVA is just far enough south to benefit from the cooling, moisture-laden fog that drifts up the Napa Valley from the San Francisco and San Pablo bays – a quintessential element of the Napa terroir. This cooler mesoclimate prevents the grapes from baking quickly in the sun, instead providing a slow, controlled ripening period that makes for grapes with a much-respected balance of sugars and acidity. This influence is particularly noticeable in Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon, known for its varietal hints of eucalyptus and mint.

The topography in Oakville varies, rising from the valley floor up into the Vaca mountain range. Some of the most famous red-wine producers grow vines on the free-draining, gravelly soils of the geological formation known as the Western Bench. The valley floor has more clay and sandy loams, as might be expected given its proximity to the Napa river and Conn Creek.

Cabernet Sauvignon is the undisputed king of Oakville, and represents more than 75 percent of the wines made there. Merlot steps in at a distant second place, used far more often to complement Cabernet in Bordeaux-blend and Meritage wines than as a varietal wine in its own right. Tiny quantities of white Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc wines are made from Oakville vineyards, but few command the price and prestige of their Cabernet cousins.

Producer Notes

Bacio Divino Winery

For 25 years and longer, I’ve had a wine glass molded to my right hand. Today, my head has a permanent tilt from holding my very prominent nose over the alluring aromas and beckoning colors of many of the world’s great wines. If I haven’t tried every one, I’ve certainly made it a passion to attempt to taste of them all. Over this third of a lifetime, I’ve come to know and respect many great wine makers around our little world, and now clearly understand the relationship between an individual’s character and his wine. You’ve read or heard about many of these people – men and women who are born to search for perfection, who scowl at the notion of compromise. These same people channel their character into their wine – their individuality, their uniqueness, their propensity to create rather than to plagiarize. Eminent character seems kindred to noteworthy wines…

Being so motivated, I longed to create a distinctive, noble wine. In the California tradition of working with the new to improve the traditional, I looked to achieve a way of broadening the distinctly majestic flavors and aromas of the king of Napa Valley’s varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon. Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to experiment with various lots of Cabernet, and I eventually settled on the hillside fruit from Ahollinger vineyards in the Mount Veeder area. This vineyard produces a bold and expressive, yet elegant wine. In 1992, we discovered the Sangiovese fruit of Cal Showket in the Oakville appellation, and were literally overwhelmed by the intensity of what resulted in our first crush in 1993. To embellish the color and acid levels of the Sangiovese, we crushed and macerated this fruit with one and a half tons of the best Petite Syrah fruit I had ever sampled.

As time aged each of these wines, and molded their individual character, I was able to determine a blend that married the elegant, yet rich and softly oaked Cabernet with the Sangiovese’s long and linear tannins, at the same time elevating the cherry, berry Sangiovese fruit to a pronounced level. The resulting wine showed that a whole could be greater than it’s individual parts. And so…’Bacio Divino’, a divine kiss, was born.

VINEYARDS

Our Estate vineyards are set amongst the remarkable natural beauty of Dutch Henry Canyon, couched along the Eastern side of the Napa Valley.

Sherry’s Acre
Our smallest vineyard is a humble 1.2 acres with sweeping mountain views surrounded by an enchanting creek. Each fall, our harshest critics lumber by to sample the irresistible fruit of this remote, bear-friendly site.

Meadows Vineyard
Bordered on all sides by old growth forest, this vineyard’s cool and unusual microclimate makes for an extended ripening season. Picking often coincides with trick-or-treating, and fruit flavors tend to be intense and concentrated.

Cloudy’s Vineyard
High above the Valley floor, these two acres of vines are at the highest elevation and steepest location on our estate. The extra struggle the vines endure here imbues the fruit with ‘mountain essence’; blackberry intensity, nuances of cassis, and abundant tannins.