Pina Napa Valley Buckeye Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
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2014-
Wine
Spectator -
James
Suckling
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
The Piña family’s roots in the Napa Valley are deep—eight generations deep—a fact that gives them no small amount of gravitas when it comes to producing wines of great distinction. Today, the wine industry is one of the last bastions of family farming in this country—a fact that the Piña family never takes for granted. With a foundation built on a storied past, this remarkable family has been making wine commercially for over 30 years, and has been making wines and tending Napa Valley vineyards for over 150 years. It’s no surprise that the Piña family, with its eight generations of expertise, is responsible for crafting award-winning wines with Winemaker Anna Monticelli at the helm capturing the true essence of Napa Valley.
Piña Napa Valley was built in 1981 on the grounds of the family’s heritage home on the Silverado Trail. Currently managed by John, Larry, Ranndy and Davie Piña, the winery and vineyards are renowned for their place in Napa Valley’s history.
After traveling to California, their great-great-grandfather Bluford Stice found that the vast open space at the edge of the continent appealed to his adventurous spirit. So in 1856, he led a wagon train and brought his family to the Napa Valley all the way from Missouri. His father, Moses Stice, began growing grapes in the Napa Valley in the 1860s. Bluford’s son, Lafayette, was born in Napa Valley in 1860 and went on to become a leader in the Napa Valley wine industry at the turn of the twentieth century; his achievements as a winemaker at Harris Winery (now Martin Estate), Brun and Chaix Winery (now Ladera) and Inglenook Winery are widely documented in Napa Valley’s historical records. Lafayette grew grapes and made wine from vineyards just south of St. Helena, where Stice Lane is today.
By 1960, with a reputation as a meticulous vineyard manager, John Piña Jr. opened his own business. This successful enterprise became Piña Vineyard Management, recognized as one of the leading vineyard management companies in California today.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Today Cabernet Sauvignon is the star of this part of Napa’s rugged, eastern hills, but Zinfandel was responsible for giving the Howell Mountain growing area its original fame in the late 1800s.
Winemaking in Howell Mountain was abandoned during Prohibition, and wasn’t reawakened until the arrival of Randy Dunn, a talented winemaker famous for the success of Caymus in the 1970s and 1980s. In the early eighties, he set his sights on the Napa hills and subsequently astonished the wine world with a Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Shortly thereafter Howell Mountain became officially recognized as the first sub-region of Napa Valley (1983).
With vineyards at 1,400 to 2,000 feet in elevation, they predominantly sit above the fog line but the days in Howell Mountain remain cooler than those in the heart of the valley, giving the grapes a bit more time on the vine.
The Howell Mountain AVA includes 1,000 acres of vineyards interspersed by forestlands in the Vaca Mountains. The soils, shallow and infertile with good drainage, are volcanic ash and red clay and produce highly concentrated berries with thick skins. The resulting wines are full of structure and potential to age.
Today Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petite Sirah thrive in this sub-appellation, as well as its founding variety, Zinfandel.