2003 Gemstone Proprietary Red

Gemstone Vineyard was founded in the mid-1990s by Paul and Suzie Frank. The first releases were in 1997. When the Franks wanted to retire a decade later Michael Marks, a Silicon Valley technology executive, and his wife Carole bought the estate. Today the 17-acre estate makes Bordeaux-style wines. The winemaker is Philippe Melka, a native of Bordeaux who worked for Chateau Petrus and Haut-Brion and later at wineries in Australia and Italy. About 1,400 cases are produced annually. Gemstone makes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot-based blends and Chardonnay.

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,