Winemaker Notes
Scattered Peaks is an elevated, artful spin on Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon carefully curated and elegantly crafted by wine industry icon, Derek Benham and legendary Napa Valley Winemaker, Joel Aiken.
Leveraging their deep passion for – and long history within – the California wine industry, Derek and Joel curate superior fruit from coveted regions throughout Napa Valley. Their plunder is then aged in carefully curated oak barrels and artfully blended to achieve the high levels of quality and experience.
Scattered Peaks is a creative marriage of Derek’s greatest loves: surfing, skiing and wine. A powerful triple-entendre, the term ‘Scattered Peaks’ refers to a surfing condition when waves approaching the shore split, creating different wave peaks. Secondly, the term signifies the many snowy peaks around the world that Benham has conquered with unmatched enthusiasm. Finally, ‘Scattered Peaks’ refers to the winery's vineyards dotted across the world-renowned Napa Valley.
One of the world's most highly regarded regions for wine production as well as tourism, the Napa Valley was responsible for bringing worldwide recognition to California winemaking. In the 1960s, a few key wine families settled the area and hedged their bets on the valley's world-class winemaking potential—and they were right.
The Napa wine industry really took off in the 1980s, when producers scooped up vineyard lands and planted vines throughout the county. A number of wineries emerged, and today Napa is home to hundreds of producers ranging from boutique to corporate. Cabernet Sauvignon is definitely the grape of choice here, with many winemakers also focusing on Bordeaux blends. White wines from Napa Valley are usually Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that claim specific wine characteristics based on situation, slope and soil. Farthest south and coolest from the influence of the San Pablo Bay is Carneros, followed by Coombsville to its northeast and then Yountville, Oakville and Rutherford. Above those are the warm St. Helena and the valley's newest and hottest AVA, Calistoga. These areas follow the valley floor and are known generally for creating rich, dense, complex and smooth red wines with good aging potential. The mountain sub appellations, nestled on the slopes overlooking the valley AVAs, include Stags Leap District, Atlas Peak, Chiles Valley (farther east), Howell Mountain, Mt. Veeder, Spring Mountain District and Diamond Mountain District. Napa Valley wines from the mountain regions are often more structured and firm, benefiting from a lot of time in the bottle to evolve and soften.
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.