Cuvaison was founded in Calistoga in 1969 by two engineers from Silicon Valley. In 1979 the Schmidheiny family purchased the then-27-acre estate, along with 400 acres in the Carneros appellation. The name of the winery is the French word for the period when the grape juice, skin and seeds are altogether during fermentation and maceration. Cuvaison makes Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc. California wine writer James Laube has noted that Cuvaison wines “share a distinctive house style with ripe, focused, supple fruit flavors, good intensity, fine balance and a sense of harmony and finesse.”
Wild Horse Valley AVA is the smallest and least well-known appellation in the Napa Valley. Though it has been an official AVA since 1988, its location on the eastern border of Napa County due east of Coombsville makes it very off the beaten track for wine tourism and almost everything else. Compounding confusion about the AVA is that parts of it lie in Solano County. Due to its elevation and proximity to San Pablo Bay, it is Napa Valley’s coolest AVA. Some of its land is as high as 2,130 feet above sea level. Of the 3,300 acres within the appellation, about 70 acres are planted to vineyards. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the principal grapes here. Lake Heron Vineyard and Winery, which produces Olivia Brion wines, is one of the few producers located here.
This red wine is relatively light and can pair with a wide variety of foods. The grape prefers cooler climates and the wine is most often associated with Burgundy, Champagne and the U.S. west coast. Regional differences make it nearly as fickle as it is flexible.