Bookends to Napa Valley
From our historic vineyard in Calistoga where we started our journey in vineyards and wine, to the extraordinary hillside vineyard on rugged Mount Veeder, our two vineyards are bookends to the Napa Valley. The vineyards create a geographical diagonal across the Valley, from the northeastern tip of Napa Valley at Palisades Vineyard in Calistoga where volcanic soils and heat produce rich wines with deep and complex flavors to the southwestern mountainous region of Mount Veeder where, ancient seabeds have been thrust up to create our Veeder Ridge vineyard where, in one property, the vineyard expresses both the heat of the summer sun on the steep southwest facing slopes to the cool summer breezes and gentle morning sun on the rolling hills facing the northeast.
The 17.5-acre Palisades Vineyard was first planted in the 1870s along the banks of Horns Creek that flows down from the Palisades, the iconic cliffs above the town of Calistoga that give the vineyard its name. The property’s volcanic and alluvial soils make the vineyard ideal for growing Rhone and Bordeaux grape varieties. Generations of owners have respectfully preserved the vineyard’s Petite Sirah heritage and its viticultural traditions. Today, Palisades Vineyard ranks as one of the world’s premiere Petite Sirah vineyards.
First planted by George Rubissow in 1984, the 18-acre Veeder Ridge Vineyard straddles a steep ridge on the southern flank of rugged Mount Veeder in Napa Valley’s Mayacamas mountains. The vineyard blocks are planted at altitudes from 600 to 950 feet above sea level. The blocks on the north side of the ridge face the mountain with views up Redwood Creek canyon to the historic Mont La Salle. The south-facing blocks fall away to the Carneros with views to Mt. Diablo, Mt. Tamalpais and San Francisco Bay.
