2004 Selene Chesler

Selene is Mia Klein’s personal winemaking venture. Klein is one of Napa Valley’s winemaking stars, having started her career working the nightshift for Cathy Corison at Chappellet. Klein earned a degree in Enology at UC Davis, and went on to consult at Spottswoode, Araujo, Viader and Dalla Valle. At the same time, she started her own small batch winery, Selene, which she named after the Greek goddess of the rising moon. Selene’s debut vintage was a 1991 Napa Valley Merlot. Klein sources her grapes from area vineyards and makes her wine at a custom crush facility. Klein makes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, red blends and rosés. Selene wines routinely earn ratings in the 90s.

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,