Vineyards

Mt. Veeder is a dormant volcano and its landscapes can be downright weird: tension of tectonic shift in the plunging canyons; soils of ancient sea-floor shale and sandstone pushed above 1500 feet.

As you would expect from Pott, we respect and nurture the weirdness. We allow a permanent cover crop between our vine rows which supports the microbial world in the soil, and all the attendant birds and beasties above.

We have nesting boxes for owls, bluebirds and bats, and they in turn control insects and other predators. We are 100% organically farmed, and even brew our own “compost teas” for when the vines need a refreshing boost of nutrients.

When it comes time to harvest we pick by hand in to small baskets to avoid premature crushing. We harvest multiple times because different parts of the vineyard ripen at different times. In spite of researching many high tech ways to analyze ripeness we still prefer to pick by flavor, the old-fashioned way. (In other words we eat a lot of grapes!)

Then to the winery where age-old artisanal techniques and indigenous yeasts develop pure, un-adulterated expressions of our site and its beauty.

The Lagier-Meredith property is about a mile distant from Pott directly along the ridge to the south. Like Pott, the soils here are the classic Mayacamas marine sandwich of sandstone and shale.  Carole and Steve planted their first Syrah vines in 1994, adding three additional varieties (Mondeuse noire, Zinfandel and Malbec) a decade later. The vineyard occupies a small southeast facing promontory at around 1300 feet above the valley. Syrah loves a view and this one is first class – lovers of their wines will know it well from their wine label.

The two properties are connected by a fire trail that used to be a ridge road connecting Napa and Sonoma via the mountains.  Since 2004 we’ve traversed it hundreds of time back and forth to Steve and Carol’s house for pizzas and pingpong, to lend and borrow machinery and to examine troublesome vines.  It’s a narrow ATV track with plunging drop offs on both sides, but it’s an animal super highway.

We set up a trail camera at the summit and captured all kinds of “traffic”, some of whom now grace the wine labels for our 3 Lagier-Meredith Vineyard wines.

Drive eight miles up Soda Canyon and you ascend to over 1,800 feet above the valley floor. From the craggy terrain of Pritchard Hill, you can gaze onto the expanse of Oakville’s world-famous wine estates far below. This might be called the last frontier of the Napa Valley – a wilder, more rugged country, fragrant with wild herbs and dotted with rare native plants.

It is here that our founders excavated over a billion pounds of basalt, andesite, and tufa boulders to create a remarkable property – Stagecoach Vineyard. Over the past two decades, over 600 acres of vines have been planted in 204 unique blocks.

We divide Stagecoach into four sections because of their distinct terroir: Pritchard Hill, Heart of the Vineyard, Bordeaux Region, and Atlas Peak Region.

Pritchard Hill
Napa County Soil Series
Mostly Hambright complex with small amount of Guenoc-Rock outcrop complex

Soil Characteristics
Soils in this region are characterized by red, volcanic soils made up of a boulder-strewn clay loam with a few solid rock outcroppings that have been dynamited to create a more uniform soil base.

Topography
Due to this section’s southwestern slopes and location, this is a warm area (great for Cabernet Sauvignon), but with more moderate mid-day temperatures (due to the marine influence) compared with the eastern part of the vineyard.

Climate
What makes this spot completely unique is its position at the very mouth of Foss Valley, overlooking Napa Valley, with a southerly view of the San Francisco Bay. There is usually a steady breeze coming up from the valley, providing more marine influence than the rest of the vineyard – the fog usually arrives here first.

Resulting Fruit
All of these factors contribute to the unique terroir of Pritchard Hill, positioning these blocks for ultimate ripening weather. Ripe, bold, and extremely concentrated describes the fruit from this region, which is destined for ultra-premium wines.

Located in St. Helena, this is the source for Turf War.

Elswick Rise is a poetically situated 4-acre site oriented East to West across a rocky bench below Elswick Summit. Soils on these terraced narrows are gritty with gravel and shale, providing the perfect amount of adversity for the Pommard clones on 3309 Rootstock with vertical shoot positioning. Elevation for this hillside bench ranges from 150 to 220 feet.