Napa Valley

Napa is located north of the San Pablo Bay

Key Grapes

Cabernet Sauvignon

  • Napa Cabernet Sauvignon wines tend to be full-bodied, riper fruit, and aged in new French and/or American oak.

  • Due to the ripeness and oak aging, Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Napa are known having black fruit aromas & flavors with prominent baking spice notes.

Chardonnay

  • Napa Chardonnay wines also tend to be full-bodied, with low acidity. Many Chardonnays experience oak treatment and malolactic fermentation.

  • Oaked Chardonnay wines tend to have hazelnut, peach, banana, and pineapple.

Merlot

  • Merlot tends to be medium plus to full-bodied. Most Merlot wines can be softer in style & tannins compared to Cabernet Sauvignon wines

  • Ripe black fruit featuring plum and blackberry.

Napa Valley AVAs

  • Location: Northwest Napa County

    Climate: warm to hot

    Moderators: Pacific Ocean, San Pablo Bay, Mount St. Helena

    Most Valuable Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon & Zinfandel

    Grape Growing & Winemaking Techniques: wide diurnal range

    Notable Producers: Chateau Montelena, Sterling, Twomey

  • Location: Northeast Napa County

    Cool Fact: vines are planted above the fog-line at altitude

    Climate: warm

    Moderators: include the San Pablo Bay & Mount St. Helena.

    Aspect: the fog line sits between 1,400 and 2,200 feet

    Soil: volcanic and red clay soils

    Most Valuable Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon thrives, but Chardonnay & Zinfandel can go off too

    Grape Growing & Winemaking Techniques: long sunshine hours

    Notable Producers: Cade, La Jota

    Wine Style: aromas of elegant floral notes, dark black berries, and earth with flavors of dark black berries, chocolate, spice, tobacco

  • Location: sits just north of San Francisco.

    Cool Fact: the only AVA in both Napa & Sonoma

    Climate: warm days & cool nights

    Moderators: include the San Pablo Bay & Mayacamas Mountains.

    Aspect: mainly flat land

    Soil: deep alluvial soils

    Most Valuable Grape: Chardonnay & Pinot Noir

    Grape Growing & Winemaking Techniques: sparkling wines using the traditional method

    Notable Producers: Domaine Carneros

  • Location: western side of Napa County

    Cool Fact: named after the volcanic peak

    Climate: warm

    Moderators: Mayacamas Mountains, Pacific Ocean, San Pablo Bay

    Aspect: rugged terrain

    Most Valuable Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon & Chardonnay

    Grape Growing & Winemaking Techniques: cool sea breezes and marine fogs temper this AVA lead to one of the longest growing seasons in Napa Valley

    Notable Producers: Hess, Darioush, Mt. Brave

  • Location: south of Rutherford AVA

    Climate: warm

    Moderators: San Pablo Bay, Mount St. Helena

    Most Valuable Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc

    Grape Growing & Winemaking Techniques: foggy mornings, warm during the daytime, then cool nights

    Notable Producers: Cardinale, PlumpJack, Silver Oak

  • Location: north of Oakville AVA

    Cool Fact: the Rutherford Bench

    Climate: warm

    Moderators: include the San Pablo Bay & Mount St. Helena

    Most Valuable Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon

    Grape Growing & Winemaking Techniques: slightly warmer than Oakville & Stags Leap District

    Notable Producers: Beaulieu Vineyards, Cakebread, Honig, Sequoia Grove

  • Location: north of Rutherford

    Climate: warm

    Moderators: Mount St. Helena, San Pablo Bay

    Most Valuable Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon; Cabernet Franc & Merlot are stellar too

    Grape Growing & Winemaking Techniques: one of the warmest AVAs in the valley

    Notable Producers: Merryvale, Duckhorn

  • Location: to the east of the Napa River

    Moderators: San Pablo Bay & Mount St. Helena

    Most Valuable Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon

    Grape Growing & Winemaking Techniques: cool afternoon winds from the San Pablo Bay provide balance and add fragrance to the wine

    Notable Producers: Stags Leap Winery, Pine Ridge

  • Location: to the west of Stags Leap District & south of Oakville

    Climate: warm

    Moderators: San Pablo Bay

    Most Valuable Grape: Chardonnay & Cabernet Sauvignon

    Grape Growing & Winemaking Techniques: cooler region than Rutherford and Oakville, but wide diurnal range

Notable Vineyards

  • Cakebread Cellars

    Rutherford

  • Davies Vineyard

    St. Helena

  • Silver Oak

    Oakville

  • Chateau Montelena

    Calistoga

  • Domaine Carneros

    Carneros

  • Cade Winery

    Howell Mountain

 FAQs

  • An American Viticultural Area, or AVA, is a specific type of appellation of origin used on wine labels. An AVA is a delimited grape-growing region.

  • Napa Valley is about 50 miles north of San Francisco & 400 miles north of Los Angeles.

  • A moderator is a physical element of a region that impacts the growing conditions.

  • Napa Cabernets are known to be rich, full-bodied, ripe, and supple.

  • The diurnal range is the difference between the daily daytime temperature and the nighttime temperature.