High & Mighty – Napa Valley’s Mountain Vineyards
Napa Valley is the most recognizable United States wine growing region in the US and around the world.
The Napa Valley is an AVA or American Vineyard (Viticulture) Area. You may not be surprised to
discover that the Napa Valley was the very first AVA to be designated once the USA adopted this
geographical indication system in 1981.
What is an AVA? It is a vineyard area, which reflects unique characteristics of an area’s terroir or
environment. The term is an approximation of France’s AOP system, developed in the early 1930s to
designate high quality regions and vineyards from more generic ones. Thus a quality level is associated
to wines with geographical indications.
Napa Valley itself has 16 sub-appellations that distinguish themselves one from the other in their soil
composition, solar aspect, rainfall, elevation and climate in general (this is terroir). Of these, 4 are
referred to as Mountain AVAs. They are Diamond Mountain AVA, Howell Mountain AVA, Spring
Mountain AVA and Mount Veeder AVA. The Atlas Peak AVA is definitely mountain-influenced and
planted at higher elevation than most. We can argue that this region could be included in the other 4 as
well.
What these have in common is higher elevation vineyard sites that range from 400 to 2600 feet, which
makes them cooler growing sites than the others. While the Valley floor where most Napa vineyards are
located are fertile, densely planted and warmer vineyard sites.
The cooler climate offers a slower ripening process and helps maintain higher acidity and more complex
aromatics which in turn help the wines age nicely. The grape variety of choice in these regions is mostly
Cabernet Sauvignon. This grape is grown the world over and when planted in optimal sites, can produce
some of the most long-lived wine and the mountain districts are no exception.
The Mountain AVAs are widely regarded as some of the best terroir that Napa has to offer and produce
wines that have full tannic structure, fresh acidity, lots of blackcurrant and dark fruit flavors along with
an unmistakable mountain scent of underbrush and herbs. These mountain wines are long lived and
some of the best wines produced in California.
Here are some of our favourite examples of Napa Mountain Vineyard wine, available at all our Tasting
Centres:
2010 Vineyard 7 & 8 Cabernet Sauvignon – Spring Mountain
2010 Paloma Merlot- Spring Mountain
2011 Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon - Mt. Veeder
2011 La Jota Vineyard Co. Cabernet Sauvignon –Howell Mountain
2006 Mayacamus Merlot – Mt. Veeder
2006 Mayacamus Cabernet Sauvignon – Mt. Veeder
2008 Lakoya Cabernet Sauvignon – Mt. Veeder
2008 Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon – Howell Mountain
2010 Cardinale Cabernet Sauvignon – Blended of all 4 Mountain Vineyard AVA’s
2011 Au Sommet Cabernet Sauvignon – Atlas Peak
Join us in our Tasting Rooms for an evening of exclusively Mountain District wines of the Napa Valley.
For tickets and more information: www.coopwinespiritsbeer.com/events