2009 M. Trinchero Cloud's Nest Vineyard Caberent Sauvignon

Trinchero Family Estates was started in 1947, when brothers John and Mario Trinchero purchased Sutter Home Winery in St. Helena. Since then more recent generations of the family have expanded the business by acquiring numerous brands in the U.S. and Australia, including Ménage a Trois, Napa Cellars and Trinchero Napa Valley. The family’s umbrella business also includes rum and tequila brands. Trinchero Napa Valley is the family’s prestige wine label, and it is mostly single-vineyard wines from the family’s Napa vineyards. Trinchero Napa Valley makes Bordeaux style wines and grows Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. The M. Trinchero label is in honor of Mario Trinchero, and the estate considers its M. Trinchero wines to be "ultra premium."

Mount Veeder AVA was established in 1993, though its origins as a wine producing district date to the 19th century. A German Presbyterian pastor named Peter Veeder was one of the first landowners in the area, and by 1864 one of his neighbors, a German sea captain named Stelham Wing, was producing wine commercially. The area continued to attract German agricultural entrepreneurs, some of whom established the estate that would later become the Christian Brothers Mont La Salle winery. Today the AVA includes about 1,000 acres of vineyards, most of them at relatively high altitudes. The Mayacamas vineyard, for instance, is at 2,400 feet. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most frequently planted grape, followed by Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

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.