Our website is currently under reconstruction.
WINE TASTING
tom@thegradecellars.com • (707) 967-8200
TRADE
Vintage & Tech Sheets • Articles • Reviews
© 2020 The GRADE Cellars ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The portfolio includes 3 estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon wines from different sections in our Winfield Vineyard ~ all grown and produced in the Calistoga district of Napa Valley.
The wines are made by Thomas Rivers Brown.
Wines
Our winemaking style is influenced by Thomas’ intuitive instincts – his ability to read a vineyard, to translate a great site into a great wine, or to know what a young Cabernet Sauvignon needs in barrel. He is meticulous.
The Cabs shine because the process is natural – no enzymes, flavor or color enhancements or reverse osmosis. The focus is on the wine as it comes from the vineyard. A primary concern is tannin management by aiming to avoid overly aggressive or heavy-handed wines and instead seeking plusher textures. Ours is a popular wine style that is imminently approachable and that is enhanced by, but not dependent on, cellaring wines for a decade or longer. The wines consistently express opulence, oak presence and textural harmony.
Winemaking Style
Block 1
Clone 7 on 110R rootstock.
Soils are Cobbly Loam.
Vine spacing is 6’ x 8’.
Block 5
Clone 337 on SO4 rootstock.
Soils are a mixture of
Gravelly Clay Loam.
Spacing is 6 x 8.
Block 4
Clone 337 on 101-14 rootstock. Soils are Gravelly Loam.
Spacing is 6 x 8.
Winfield Vineyard is on the sloping bench of alluvial volcanic sediments from Mount Saint Helena and the Vaca Mountain Range. The vines are planted to 5x8 and 6x8 spacing in 7 blocks of distinctive soil types ranging from cobbly to gravelly loams, producing yields of 3+ tons per acre. The fruit is crushed at nearby Tamber Bey Vineyards.
Vineyard Block Sources
THE GRADE (“Winfield Vineyard”)
Production typically 500-600 cases. Our signature vineyard blend of three blocks (Block 1, 4 & 5) that varies proportionally in each vintage. Wines are aged in 65% new French Oak.
First vintage in 2004.
KINGLY PROJECT
Production typically 100-125 cases. Wine is 100% Block 5 fruit “best barrels”. Its dark fruit “reminiscent of a moonless night” (Robert Parker). Aged in 100% new premium French Oak. Considered to be the best fruit on this site.
First vintage 2012.
SERPENT’S BACK
Production typically 75-100 cases. Wine is 100% Block 4 fruit “best barrels”. Created exclusively for Wine Club. Blend expresses valley floor loam. Wines aged in 75% new French Oak.
First vintage 2015.
SEA-FOG
Production typically 200-300 cases 100% sourced from Fish Ranch adjacent to Winfield Vineyard in volcanic soils. Barrel fermented and aged in neutral French Oak.
First vintage 2008.