NAPA VALLEY, LOS CARNEROS, Calif. – April 19, 2023 – After 44 years of farming its acclaimed estate vineyard in the Los Carneros region of Napa Valley, Cuvaison is excited to announce that, moving forward, the historic property will be named Tai Vineyard. The Tai Vineyard name honors the late Alexander Tai Schmidheiny, who cemented Cuvaison’s focus on cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir when he acquired and developed the coveted property in 1979. The new Tai Vineyard name will begin rolling out on select 2021 vineyard-designate wines from Cuvaison’s Legacy, Micro Lot, and Small Lot tiers beginning in 2023.
Situated near the edge of the Mayacamas Mountains, and planted in a range of elevations from sea level to upwards of 250 feet, the Napa Green-certified Tai Vineyard has been sculpted to take advantage of the site’s natural diversity. It features a mosaic of 16 blocks of Chardonnay and 13 of Pinot Noir, along with smaller blocks of Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Semillon, Syrah and Grenache. To ensure the highest standards of quality through the use of the finest viticultural techniques, Cuvaison applies a continuous 20-year replanting cycle at Tai Vineyard. With farming guided by Viticulturist and Vineyard Consultant Kelly Maher, Tai Vineyard currently includes 125 acres of vines with an emphasis on higher density plantings, modern trellising, and hand-picked clone and rootstock combinations tailored to the elevation and soil type of each block.
“Many of the world’s great wineries share several common threads,” says CEO Daniel Zepponi. “They are often independent, family-owned wineries that have spent generations stewarding a remarkable piece of land. They are also wineries that helped to pioneer and define their regions, making wines that captured the imagination of wine lovers with an intimate sense of place. For well over 40 years, Tai Vineyard has been one of the premier vineyards in Los Carneros, and it is surrounded by some of the most prestigious winegrowing sites in the region. With this new name, we are recognizing and celebrating the history, quality and character of this remarkable vineyard, and its importance to the story of Los Carneros.”
Alexander Tai Schmidheiny selected the site for Tai Vineyard for its ideal clay and loam soils, its diverse slopes, elevations and aspects, and its marine-influenced climate, where wind and fog from San Pablo Bay result in summer temperatures that rarely exceed 80o F. Collectively, these features provide perfect conditions for Burgundian varieties and other cool-climate grape expressions. The Schmidheiny family—fourth-generation vintners who also own vineyards in Argentina and Switzerland—were one of the first families to pioneer the Los Carneros region in the modern winemaking era. In fact, the founding of Tai Vineyard in 1979 predates the establishment of the Los Carneros American Viticultural Area (AVA), which became the first AVA in California to be established based specifically on its climate in 1983.
“Neighboring such nearby sites as Hyde, Hudson and Red Shoulder Ranch, Tai Vineyard was one of the first vineyards to catapult Los Carneros to global fame,” says Kelly Maher. “It is an extraordinary winegrowing site in one of America’s great regions for cool-climate grapes. Under Daniel’s leadership over the past six years, our focus on continually elevating quality through replanting and the adoption of the finest modern viticultural techniques has solidified Tai’s reputation as one of Napa Valley’s premier Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc vineyards.”
ABOUT CUVAISON
Founded in 1969, Cuvaison is one of the pioneering wineries that shaped the modern era of California winemaking, helping to catapult Napa Valley onto the global stage as one of the world’s most revered wine regions. More than five decades later, Cuvaison remains true to its pioneering roots. Still an independent, family-owned, working winery, Cuvaison is dedicated to making estate-grown Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from its historic Tai Vineyard in the cool Los Carneros appellation of Napa Valley. Recognized as quintessential expressions of cool-climate Napa Valley varieties, Cuvaison’s wines offer seamless balance, vibrant fruit and vineyard-inspired character and complexity. For more information, visit cuvaison.com.
