2011 Montagna Cabernet Sauvignon

Montagna Napa Valley was founded in 2000 by Robert Long, a Napa Valley wine entrepreneur with deep roots in the area. In 1984 Robert and his brother David started David Arthur Vineyards, which was carved out a 900-acre parcel their parents bought in the 1960s. The area is known as Pritchard Hill, and is considered some of the best vineyard country in the valley. Montagna is just a mile down the road from David Arthur Vineyards. Nile Zacherle, who has made wine at Barnett Vineyards, Chateau Montelena and David Arthur, is winemaker. Montagna makes estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and a white blend made of Italian grapes rarely grown in the U.S., including Fiano, Greco di Tufo and Ribolla Gialla. Wine Advocate has noted that the estate’s early releases “suggest Montagna is another of the rising stars in Napa’s hottest neighborhood.”

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,

One of the most widely grown grape varieties, it can be found in nearly every wine growing region. A cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. It’s a hardy vine that produces a full-bodied wine with high tannins and great aging potential.