2017 Quivet Cellars Kenefick Ranch Whole Cluster Syrah

Quivet Cellars is a new enterprise that involves several business partners and the much-admired winemaker Mike Smith, who previously helped produce wines at such distinguished wineries as Schrader Cellars, Outpost, Maybach Family and Rivers Marie. He trained with Thomas Brown and also has his own label, Myriad Cellars. Quivet makes premium, single-vineyard wines in small quantities generally available only through its mailing list. The name of the company is a reference to Quivet Neck, a seafaring region on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Quivet Cellars sources grapes from such prime vineyards as Beckstoffer Las Piedras and Las Madres Vineyards. The estate makes Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and a small amount of Sauvignon Blanc. Wine Advocate has rated many Quivet wines in the mid to high 90s.

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,

This grape is grown in milder climates and produces a medium-to full-bodied wine. It is also known as Shiraz, but should not be confused with Petit Sirah, which was developed by crossing Syrah with Peloursin.