ARAUJO ESTATE WINES, ALTAGRACIA

NAPA VALLEY, CALIFORNIA 2012

What do Joseph Phelps, Paul Draper, and Château Latour’s François Pinault have in common? Apart from making some of the most thrilling wines of our time, they also all recognized the unsurpassable quality of the 162-acre Eisele property in Napa Valley. The Eisele Vineyard itself is located at the heart of the property, just east of Calistoga near the northern end of Napa Valley. Protected by the Palisades Mountains to the north and cooled by breezes from the Chalk Hill Gap, this 38-acre vineyard produces exceptionally rich, concentrated fruit of the highest caliber. While the winery’s flagship Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is remarkable, it is also remarkably difficult to procure and quite expensive to boot—typically $700+ per bottle. The winery’s second label ‘Altagracia’ is an incredible wine in its own right, and presents an opportunity to appreciate this celebrated vineyard at a fraction of the price of its big brother. 

The Eisele Vineyard story begins in 1969, when Milton and Barbara Eisele purchased the property. Over the course of their tenure, the couple established the site as one of the finest sources for Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in the Napa Valley. The reputation of this grand vineyard quickly attracted attention, and top producers purchased its prized fruit vintage after vintage: In 1971, Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards produced the first ‘Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon’—one of the first vineyard-designated wines in California—and Joseph Phelps produced a lineup of Eisele Vineyard Cabernets from 1975 to 1991. After owning the property from 1990–2013, the Araujo family passed the torch to Artemis Domaines and the Pinault family of several famed Bordeaux and Burgundy estates, including Château Latour and Domaine René Engel. 

The second label ‘Altagracia,’ named after former owner Bart Araujo’s grandmother, “is a Bordeaux-style blend vinified in the same manner as the Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. It is essentially the expression of the Eastern parcels of the Eisele Vineyard, completed with fruit sourced from other Napa Valley vineyards where we hold long-term grape contracts and which are farmed to our specifications. This Napa Valley Proprietary Red, while very ageable, is readily enjoyable in its youth” (Eisele Vineyard). The 2012 Altagracia is 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Petit Verdot, and 8% Cabernet Franc, with smaller amounts of Merlot and Malbec. The wine unveils expressive and impressively layered flavors of ripe black cherry, baking spice, and earth, but it's the gorgeous, silken texture that stopped us in our tracks. In fact, I almost forgot to mention the best part: for one week only, we’re offering the 2012 Altagracia for 30% off!