2017 Kata Ghost Dog

Kata is David Beckstoffer’s first venture into winemaking, but it is no surprise that he has started producing his own small-batch, artisanal wine. Beckstoffer’s family is well-established in Napa Valley and he grew up in the vineyard management business. Since the 1970s his father Andy Beckstoffer has been instrumental in promoting forward-thinking grape growing and grape marketing practices. Andy Beckstoffer also acquired and managed vineyards starting in 1970, and the family today owns and farms 3,600 acres in northern California, growing grapes for some of the area’s most prestigious producers. David is Andy’s oldest son, and in 2000 David became President of Beckstoffer Vineyards, the family business. In choosing a name for his own label, David picked Kata, which means “form” in Japanese. The term is also used in martial arts to describe the repeated small, prescribed, orderly movements that, with diligent practice, lead to mastery of skills. Kata is a blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and a small amount of Petite Sirah. Grapes come from the Beckstoffer family’s Bourn Vineyard, which was previously part of the Hayne Vineyard in St. Helena. Kata’s winemaker is Benoit Touquette, a native of Bordeaux who works for wineries in Napa and Bordeaux.

Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay,