2018 Caldwell Vineyards Society of Smugglers Maverick

Caldwell Winery is in Napa. The 123-acre Caldwell Vineyard is a grape source for such vintners as Merus, Pahlmeyer, Joseph Phelps, Patz & Hall and other artisanal Napa producers. The estate grows numerous grapes, from Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay to Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Carmenere, among others. The estate was founded and is still owned by John Caldwell, a Napa Valley legend for having planted grape clones from Bordeaux on his land in 1984. No one else was experimenting with French clones at the time, and though he was a shoe store owner and developer, completely lacking in formal agriculture or winemaking education, Caldwell’s imported clones thrived. He later went into the business of importing them. His vineyards still grow primarily French clones. Cadwell focused on growing high quality grapes until the late 1990s, when he started making wine under his own label.

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,