Fe - Cabernet Sauvignon - Spring Mountain

2018

91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5.2% Petit Verdot, 3.6% Malbec, 0.2% Cabernet Franc

Seven years of deliberate viticulture went into the first vintage. Their six densely planted blocks of vines are cane-pruned to create a shade canopy in the heat of summer. Winemaker Aaron Pott planted nitrogen-fixing cover crops rather than artificially amending our soil, and they fight off pests by providing habitat for winged predators.

The east-facing vines enjoy a temperate microclimate. At daybreak, as the silhouette of the Vaca Mountains appears over the Napa River, fog rolls in from the west and the south. A forested preserve shoulders our estate on two sides, further cooling our vines with its shaded embrace.

The volcanically derived Aiken soil type is rich in iron, which promotes chlorophyll production and thus photosynthesis. While the surface layer is rocky and well-drained, sublayers of loam and clay hold moisture. These conditions often make for brutal, highly tannic wines, but Fe is notable for its silky finesse.