2017 Cimarossa Vingiancu

Cimarossa means “red hilltop” in Italian, and in the fall when the leaves turn on hilltop where the Cimarossa vineyards are located, the view is indeed red and russet. At 2,100 feet, the vineyards are in the Howell Mountain appellation in the Vaca mountain range. The estate was founded by Dino Dina and Corry Dekker, a couple who both worked in biotechnology before starting their dream wine business. Since 2009 Mia Klein has been their winemaker. Cimarossa makes Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc in small quantities. Vinous has called Cimarossa “one of the hidden jewels of the Napa Valley.”

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 crisp, dry white wine hails from France but is grown in wine regions around the world. In California, it is sometimes called Fume Blanc; while in Sauternes, it is a component of their famous dessert wines.