Unique Intense Full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon Grapes

Elevation places the Mount Veeder Appellation above the morning fog, allowing the vines to soak up a gentler sunshine in the afternoon, offering an inversion blanket in the evening, and minimizing frost in the spring.

Mt. Veeder consists of mostly very thin shale and volcanic ash soils overlaying an ancient seabed.  Most vineyards here are planted on steep slopes…sometimes as much as 30 degrees. This provides for optimum drainage.

A lack of moisture to the plants slows the growth process. This natural restraint, coupled with thin soils and minimal groundwater, produces a level of stress that is crucial in the process of creating high quality fruit, (a process that many growers in other appellations work very hard to try to duplicate).

The end result is grapes that are small, yet intense with dark fruit flavors and extremely full bodied. These characteristics are unique to this mountainous appellation and very different from valley floor grapes.

Farming a hillside vineyard requires additional care and labor. For this reason, growers on Mt. Veeder use minimal machinery and typically pick grapes by hand – an exceptional quality control method.

Native predators like mountain lions and coyotes are prolific, causing the bird population to be significantly smaller than on the valley floor. This allows for sustainable farming practices and minimal impact to the terrain.