Just off the northern reaches of the Silverado Trail is the small, tan tile-roofed home of Cuvaison Estate Wines. The winery's name, "cuvaison" (koo-vay-sawn), is French for the fermentation of wine on the grape skins. The winery is owned by the Schmidheiny family.
Chardonnay represents almost 65 percent of Cuvaison’s production. Merlot and Pinot Noir are also produced, and come from the winery’s same 400-acre estate vineyard in the cool Carneros region. Over the past 20 years, the estate has been developed by matching an array of clones and rootstocks to the special characteristics of each specific vineyard block. The wines produced from these individual blocks are blended to create balanced, elegant, well-structured wines.
Cuvaison purchased the historic 170-acre Brandlin Vineyard in the Mount Veeder Range on the southwest side of the Napa Valley. They planted 32 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and small amounts of Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. Enjoy their tree-shaded picnic area and fine Napa Valley wine.
