The SOMM Journal

April / May 2017

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86 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } APRIL/MAY 2017 { the grower's outlook } WHEN YOU BELIEVE THAT extraor- dinary vineyard soils are the absolute key to producing exceptionally balanced wines, you've found your true place in the world. For me, that "place" is on the mountain slopes of Napa's wine-growing region, where I contend some of the finest wines are produced. Mountain wineries flourished here back in the late 19th century, before Prohibition put them out of business. There was a bit of new-found interest in the 1970s, but it wasn't until the mid-1990s that existing wineries and vineyards were re-energized by new vintners and mountain wines were revived to their past glory. There's a discernible distinction to the grapes grown in Napa's mountain area. They possess that "smack of Californian earth" that Robert Louis Stevenson wrote about in his 1883 memoir The Silverado Squatters: "And when you taste a vintage, grave economical questions are involved." Stevenson continues: The beginning of the vine-planting is like the beginning of mining for precious metals: The wine-grower also 'prospects.' So, bit by bit, they grope about for their Clos Vougeot and Lafite. Those lodes and pockets of earth, more precious than the precious ores that yield inimitable fragrance and soft fire; those virtuous Bonanzas, where the soil has sublimated under sun and stars to something finer, and the wine is bottled poetry. The smack of California earth shall linger on the palate of your grandson. Mountain vineyards, usually some thou - sand feet or so in elevation, offer a different climatic rhythm and thus produce greater intensity of flavors and aromas enhanced by terroir. Only with height do you get the combination of clean, thin, cool mountain air that steadies the day's temperatures, creating warmer days with full sun and cool nights. As elevation increases, sunlight becomes more concentrated, causing grapes to develop deeper pigments. They also get more early sun because they are above the fog line, thus forcing grapes to mature and ripen slowly. In the afternoon, the heat from the val - ley floor begins to drift up the hillsides. The grapes absorb more sun, then close down at night, halting photosynthesis, sugar for- mation and acidity, locking in their structure and backbone while allowing them to ripen perfectly. The mountains are more exposed to prevailing winds, giving more stress to the vines. The variation from warm to cool causes the vines to struggle, developing the acidity needed to produce such intense aromas, flavors, colors and tannins. You get much more depth, more notes, more bal - ance, more structure and complexity from these climatic rhythms. There is an intensity to the fruit because it matures more slowly PHOTO: MITCH RICE, COURTESY OF HALL WINES The HALL T Bar T Ranch Estate Vineyard in the Atlas Peak AVA. Higher Ground NAPA'S MOUTAIN GRAPES MAKE EXTRAORDINARY WINES by Igor Sill

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