2017 Nine Suns Houyi Vineyard Red, 1.5ltr

Nine Suns is a new producer in the Pritchard Hill area of Napa Valley. It was founded by the Chang family, and is run by son Jason Chang. The name of the enterprise is taken from Chinese mythology, in which the archer Houyi shoots down nine sun birds who are blocking the sun, causing dangerous imbalances in the earth’s natural cycles. The Chang family named their vineyard Houyi Vineyard after the heroic archer. Sam Kaplan, one of Napa Valley's rising stars, is winemaker. The estate makes a luxury Cabernet Sauvignon generally available through a mailing list only. The 2012 Nine Suns is the debut vintage.

Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay,