2011 Edge Hill Abel 1833, 3-bottle Lot, Wood Case

Edge Hill is a tribute to one of Napa’s most historic wineries from a veteran of the fine food and wine industry, Leslie Rudd. Rudd grew up in Kansas learning the wine and spirits business from his father, who built the state’s largest wine and spirits importer. Leslie Rudd later branched out into the specialty foods business and acquired Dean & Deluca, the iconic New York-based gourmet food purveyor, which he turned into a national business and eventually sold. In Napa Valley Rudd started Rudd Winery and opened other food and wine businesses, including restaurants. Rudd originally bought the Edge Hill property as a home for himself and his wife, but decided to turn it back into a working vineyard. The property produced wine commercially from 1867 to 1907. Edge Hill’s 5.5 acres of vineyards were replanted with a mix of the varietals that in the 19th century were used to make blends. Edge Hill grows Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Mourvedre, Grenache, Carignane and other grapes to make what Edge Hill calls a “mixed black” wine. Such field blends were common in the 19th and early 20th centuries and today innovative producers are once again offering them. Edge Hill also makes Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, White Mixed Field Blends, and other wines. Its very limited production is generally available only through a mailing list.

Mount Veeder AVA was established in 1993, though its origins as a wine producing district date to the 19th century. A German Presbyterian pastor named Peter Veeder was one of the first landowners in the area, and by 1864 one of his neighbors, a German sea captain named Stelham Wing, was producing wine commercially. The area continued to attract German agricultural entrepreneurs, some of whom established the estate that would later become the Christian Brothers Mont La Salle winery. Today the AVA includes about 1,000 acres of vineyards, most of them at relatively high altitudes. The Mayacamas vineyard, for instance, is at 2,400 feet. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most frequently planted grape, followed by Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.