2017 Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Altagracia Napa Valley

Before Kronos, before Martha’s, before To Kalon, there was Eisele Vineyard. When we talk about important Napa parcels, we always start here, just outside of Calistoga. Eisele Vineyard epitomizes why single-vineyard wines exist, because it offers a unique balance of elegance and power and stands alone in this part of the Valley for quality. It’s why Eisele Vineyard wines have been lighting up the scoreboards for decades. The 2017 Altagracia led James Suckling to say the wine delivers “velvety tannins that show a juicy finish” and the wine is “rich for the vintage” in his 94-point review. 

The alluvial volcanic soils fanning out from the base of the Vaca Palisades offer terrific drainage, which translates first into low yields and then into concentrated character in the glass. Former owner Bart Araujo (Altagracia is named for his grandmother) loved how wines from here offered “weight but without heaviness.” The team at Château Latour (yes, that Latour) were so impressed with the high quality and individual character of the wines, as well as the methodical biodynamic farming that they chose Eisele Vineyard as their outpost in the Western Hemisphere. 

When it was first converted to agriculture in the 1840s, Eisele Vineyard was mostly used for pasturing cattle and horses and growing wheat, complete with on-site gristmill. But in 1884 vines were planted here and the future—not just of this plot of land, but of Napa Valley—was altered.

Then came the modern era for the estate, with Milt & Barbara Eisele purchasing it in the ‘60s, giving it their name, and converting it to Cabernet Sauvignon. The Eisele name would start appearing on Ridge bottles shortly thereafter, when Paul Draper made it just the third vineyard-designated Cabernet bottled in Napa. Conn Creek and Joseph Phelps followed, until another couple bought the property and decided to estate-bottle.

Daphne and Bart Araujo made their name in the world of wine by the careful attention they gave to the farming here and to the wines they were able to make as a result. Tipped off about the estate by the founder of Screaming Eagle, it was the Araujos who converted the estate first to organic farming, then upped the ante again by integrating biodynamics. Today the Eisele Vineyard (as it is now called) is under the capable stewardship of Groupe Artémis, which also owns Château-Grillet, Clos de Tart, Domaine d’Eugénie, and Château Latour in France. Grands Crus all around, and Eisele Vineyard is right at home in the mix.

Artémis have made small but important changes, all with an eye to quality. The rows are now tilled, in order to force the vines to send roots deeper down in search of moisture, which gives them access to water even in drought years. Some trellising is being converted to the upright style you see in the Northern Rhône, so as to give more balanced sun-shade exposure to the ripening grapes. In the cellar, the barrel room is now temperature-controlled and the barriques are at a lower toast, so as to let the vineyard itself speak louder. Lastly, taking a note out of the group’s own Bordeaux book, the new team leader (Hélène Mingot) does the blend before the élevage rather than after.

Truly, this is one of the most important vineyards in America, with one of the longest histories. All that is noble—dare we say Grand Cru—about Eisele Vineyard is on offer in this bottle. The Altagracia is produced primarily from the eastern blocks of the vineyard and complemented with fruit from long-standing contracts in Napa. 

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 14.80%
• 1 hour
• Now – 2035
• 82% Cabernet Sauvignon12% Cabernet Franc6% Petit Verdot
• Serving temperature – 62°
• Cork