Shhh! We can’t tell you…

First, let me tell you the background and idea behind the name.

#SECRET – who doesn’t love a secret? Secrets can be complicated though, they can be exciting but they can also be dangerous. Ironically, in the wine business there are very few secrets either regarding winemaking or vineyards. We all want to feel as though we have some knowledge that is not available to just anyone. Our secrets – – – we have to know you really well to tell them all to you.

#DOOR – most of the time we think of doors as entrances but they can also deny entry (locked). It’s the possibility of access that makes a door a powerful symbol. “What’s on the other side, anyway?” we ask ourselves. A door defines the point where access may occur. They can be open in two ways – they can stand open showing what’s on the other side and they can be unlocked but closed requiring effort to pass through. Wines (we think) are like an unlocked door – they require effort to open and understand completely but the effort is rewarded when the wine is truly special.

SECRET DOOR WINERY – we are not an estate winery, meaning the grapes we use to produce our wines are not from our own properties. The winemaker – Donald Patz – is very familiar with this type of winery. First, looking for an interesting vineyard and second working closely with the vineyard owner and manager to produce the kind of quality needed to make an extraordinary wine.

It is very possible to get the very highest quality from vineyards who sell their grapes. There are several independent growers who are very well known in the Napa Valley for extraordinary grapes – examples like Beckstoffer and Abreu come immediately to mind but they are not the only sources capable of delivering superb Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. We have searched out very special spots in the Napa Valley to purchase Cabernet Sauvignon. If there are any secrets – they revolve around places where the location/soil/microclimate come together with the right selection of grapes and a vineyard team capable of getting the most out of it all.

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is no secret. The little Napa Valley in California consistently produces the most complex and intense Cabernet Sauvignon wines in the state and is one of the greatest regions in the world for this grape. Mr. Patz has long desired to have a Cabernet Sauvignon wine from the very highest level of grape sources and in 2017 those sources became available.

More SECRETS to follow.