April 13 tasting at Napa Valley Country Club
NAPA VALLEY, Calif., spring 2019 — Discover Coombsville welcomes the trade and public to a walkaround tasting of wines from 16 wineries who make wines from this Napa Valley growing region. The event takes place on April 13 from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the Napa Valley Country Club, 3849 Hagen Road (Napa). Trade are invited to attend from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; tickets must be arranged in advance by contacting elan@italicswinegrowers.com. The public is invited from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m.; tickets are $130 per person.
“Come discover Coombsville with us,” encourages Russ Weis, the GM of Silverado Vineyards, who will be pouring 2015 GEO (Cabernet Sauvignon) and 2015 Mt. George Merlot, from the winery’s Mt. George estate vineyard in Coombsville.
Silverado Vineyards’ Mt. George Vineyard
Other participating wineries include Shadybrook, Porter, Maroon, Ancien, Farella, Sciandri, Arrow&Branch, Rocca, Maritas, Scalon, Caldwell, Italics, Southern Roots, Covert and Tournesol.
The ticket includes a food and wine pairing menu prepared especially for these wines by Napa Valley Country Club, a silent auction, a ‘swag bag’ giveaway and exclusive access to taste wines from wineries not open to the public. Attending this event will give a guest first access to tickets next year and to special vineyard tours and events organized by the participating wineries.
Proceeds will support Puertas Abiertas (Open Doors), a non-profit organization based in Napa Valley which works to inspire healthy living in the Latino community: https://www.puertasabiertasnapa.org/
Silverado Vineyards’ Mt. George Vineyard
Napa pioneer Henry Hagen’s weathered stone gate still guards the southwest entrance of Silverado Vineyards’ Mt. George Vineyard, which is the site of one of the first grape plantings in the Napa Valley in the 19th century. First planted in 1868 by William Woodward, the vineyard was expanded between 1989 and 1990 by Ron and Diane Miller, the winery founders. The site is defined by the deep, gravelly down-slopes of an ancient volcano named Mt. George. Coombs Gravelly Loam and Forward Gravelly Loam are the soils in which 56 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, 34 acres of Merlot, 4.5 acres of Petit Verdot and 3.5 acres of Cabernet Franc are planted.
Mt. George produces wines with intense blue fruit flavors, dark color, palate density and classic structure which are the great characteristics of cooler climate wine growing. “The vineyard is the heart and soul of our Merlot, and the “spice box” of our Estate Cabernet blend,” explains Russ Weis.
About Coombsville
The Coombsville AVA was the Napa Valley’s 16th AVA. Tucked against the foothills of the Vaca Range in the southeastern corner of the Napa Valley, the area received its AVA designation in 2011. Coombsville is a bowl-shaped depression, cradled by a crescent-shaped section of the foothills of the Vaca Range, topped by Mt. George and Atlas Peak and flanked by the town of Napa and the Napa River. Most of the area was blanketed by volcanic ash from Mt. George. Alluvial flows covered the ash with cobblestone-strewn layers of rich loams. Pockets of volcanic soils and rocks pepper the landscape as well. The gravelly loams and rocky volcanic soils drain easily and the ash sub-soils hold water, which the vines can access as the dry growing season progresses.
Coombsville weather is moderated by its proximity to the San Pablo Bay. Frosts are mitigated, fog settles more frequently and burns off later in the day than vineyards further north. The vines bud early and the grapes tend to be harvested later, making for a long, slow ripening period. Daily average high temperatures can be as much as ten degrees cooler during the hot months than most other appellations, and heat spikes tend to be less severe.
About Silverado Vineyards
In 1981, Ron and Diane Miller and Diane’s mother, Lillian Disney, established Silverado Vineyards to begin making wines from the historic sites that comprise their estate. Their ranches were first planted to vineyards by Napa pioneers between 1865 and 1895. Each played an important role in establishing the reputation of their appellations: Carneros, Coombsville, Yountville, Soda Creek Canyon and Stags Leap District. The outstanding fruit from these vineyards is the exclusive source of Silverado Vineyards’ Estate and Single Vineyards wines — the Miller family’s highest expression of the Napa Valley they love and admire.
