2021 Hayfork Wine Co. Marsanne

Hayfork Wine Co. In St. Helena is aptly named. John Lewelling, a horticulturalist, acquired the ranch in 1864 and six generations later his descendants are still working at vineyard management and winemaking. The historic Lewelling Ranch is one of the oldest family owned and operated agricultural enterprises in the region. Today Lewelling’s descendants are the Wight family, and Doug Wight runs a well-known vineyard management company. His daughter Haley, who grew up on the ranch, is winemaker for Hayfork, and Haley and her husband Erik Dodd run the winemaking business. The estate’s first Cabernet Sauvignon vintage was released in 2006. Hayfork also makes Grenache Blanc. All wines are produced in very limited quantities. Hayfork makes 300 to 500 cases annually.

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,