A hundred chocolate-brown feathers litter the ground before the barn, the only remaining traces of a bobcat’s midnight chicken dinner. Seemingly unaware of their narrow escape, the remaining heritage Buckeye hens and a homely, bare-necked turchicken peck the earth between feathers for insects and bits of grain. Horses, rabbits and sheep are nearby and a friendly old, yellow labrador lies sleepily on his side, watching the action.
In the barn is a two-wheeled, hand-guided tractor that works the soil without causing compaction. A large plastic tub with a central filter occupies one corner, looking like an industrial version of a Bodum teapot. It’s used for making biodynamic teas though, nothing you’d want to drink. Just past the barn in the shade of a tree lies a large compost pile and, buried next to that, a decomposing wooden barrel filled with older compost and thousands of happy worms. Somewhere, cow horns are buried. They’re contents will ultimately be sprayed onto the soil to benefit microorganisms and increase uptake of nutrients by the plants.
The vineyard itself is small, just about half an acre, and slopes at 11 degrees down toward the barn. It’s set into a small bowl in the hillside which is consistently three to four degrees cooler than the valley floor but a couple of degrees warmer than the hillside outside of the bowl. Swirling winds prevent frost. It’s a nearly perfect site tucked away in a spot you’d never find on your own, even with a GPS. There’s not a single winery in sight. This is Napa Valley though, and home to one of that AVAs most lithe and balanced Cabernet Sauvignon.
Lynn and Kirk Grace of Wise Acre Vineyard. Photo provided by Lynn Grace.
Lynn and Kirk Grace bought the property in 2003. They planted it with 4 x 4 spacing to Bosche-clone Cabernet Sauvignon on 101–14 rootstock. That’s the same combination found at his family’s Grace Family Vineyards, considered the first of Napa’s “cult” Cabernet Sauvignon producers. Kirk is responsible for viticulture at Grace Family too, but his primary job is viticulturist for Stags Leap Wine Cellars. He held the same position at the certified-organic* Robert Sinskey Vineyards for nine years.
Lynn and Kirk do everything themselves by hand at their home vineyard, using bio-correct practices that Kirk has developed over 32 years of organic and biodynamic wine-growing. The wine is made solely from their Wise Acre Vineyard grapes by Gary Brookman. Brookman makes the wine for Grace Family too.
Despite their cult status, Grace Family wines have never been big or over-extracted. Raj Parr, well-known now not just for his wine expertise but also for his “pursuit of balance” and stance against high-alcohol wines has said, “Grace Family wines are among my favorite wines in the world… honest wines, true to variety and sense of place.” The Wise Acre vineyard is in a different location—in between the St. Helena and Howell Mountain AVAs—but shares the same vineyard set-up, practices and philosophy. Lynn and Kirk shoot for alcohol levels of 13.5% or less.
Their first vintage was 2008. I recently tasted a barrel sample of the 2012. It will be bottled in May and then age for another 16 months before release. I’d happily drink it now. In fact, I swallowed every drop of my tasting pour.
The wine smells of currant, red cherry, earth, spice and a hint of juniper. In the mouth there is a moderate amount of fine-grained, lightly grippy tannins balanced neatly with acidity. The wine will be lovely with food but, even now, doesn’t require any. Body is medium to medium+. Flavor intensity is excellent and the finish long. Flavors echo the nose with currant, red cherry, earth and spice but also a splash of mocha. I don’t rate barrel samples but, if this was a released wine today, it would be Very Highly Recommended.
Production volume is very low and heavily dependent on vintage. It’s been as low as 20 cases and will never be more than 100. Given that, plus the all of the hand labor, the pedigree and the quality of the wine itself, it’s a bargain in Napa Valley at $150. The wines are sold direct and there’s a 3-bottle minimum.
*Robert Sinskey has been Demeter-certified biodynamic. It recently cancelled their licensing/certification relationship with Demeter and can no longer use the term biodynamic but has not changed its farming practices.
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