Hot Off The Vine -- Duke of Bourbon Vine News
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Saturday, 07 November 2009
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Passing the Torch at Eisele Vineyards


hen Bart and Daphne Araujo,(pronounced a-RAH-ho) bought Eisele Vineyard, the Napa Valley Cabernet plot that for years has produced one of the most collectible wines on the market, it seemed like a gamble for a couple that was altogether new to the industry. That gamble, however, has paid off in the Araujos' first vintage, a 1991 Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon that seeks to uphold the reputation of this proven piece of property.

The 35-acre vineyard parcel (there are nearly 100 non-vineyard acres as well on the property) is the namesake of one of California's most notable wines, the Joseph Phelps Eisele Vineyard Cabernet. In his book, "California's Great Cabernets," Wine Spectator senior editor James Laube ranked Eisele Vineyard as a first growth, using a system similar to the 1855 classification of Bordeaux wine, which ranks wines into five growths.

Phelps began buying grapes from owners Milt and Barbara Eisele in 1975, and created a wine that ranks in the top echelon of California Cabernets. Eisele sold the vineyard for $2.7 million in 1989 to William Farley, who made his fortune via Fruit of the Loom underwear. Farley continued selling the grapes to Phelps, but couldn't devote enough time to the vineyard and, in 1990, the property changed hands again. This time the buyers were the Araujos, the proprietors of a southern California construction company, who paid more than $3 million for the vineyards, property and permit to operate a winery.

They sold their grapes to Phelps in 1990, for use in his Bordeaux-style Insignia blend (Phelps had no Eisele bottling that year). The 1991 vintage yielded two Eisele bottlings: the Phelps and the Araujos' own.

Since 1992, the Araujos have had the vineyard all to themselves. They have replanted parts of the property, using mostly Eisele clones, but kept the old vines that had historically gone into the Eisele bottlings. They also planted some Sangiovese, Syrah and Petit Verdot, as well as Sauvignon Musque and Viognier.

The Araujos have built a winery on the property, refurbished an old barn to house the offices, bored elaborate caves and hired one of the most sought after consultant winemakers in the valley, Tony Soter, to craft their wines. David Abreu, another well-known name in the valley, is employed as vineyard manager.

Soter's first stab was right on target. The 1991 Eisele Vineyard from Araujo (90 points, 40$) keeps tradition alive, with a rich currant and cherry foundation, and firm tannins. Less than 1,000 cases exist, but production will increase slowly to about 3,000 cases. Next spring will mark the release of the Araujos' first Sauvignon Blanc, 1993. Only 100 cases were made this time around, but production of that wine will increase to 1,500 cases.

Both Bart and Daphne believe they were in the right place at the right time. While still living in the Santa Barbara area, they had contacted Napa Valley real estate agent Ren Harris, to begin searching for some vineyard property. They thought it would take a couple of years.

"Within two months, Ren called and said, 'Eisele Vineyard is up for sale and I think you should come look at it,' recalls Bart.

Their admiration for the vineyard is evident. The wine is labeled "Eisele Vineyard," with "Araujo Estate Wines" nestled discreetly in the right hand corner. And although they are apprentice wine people from an entirely different business background, the Araujos are literate when it comes to vineyard trellising, soil types and winemaking techniques, and are eager to learn all they can.

"We felt uncomfortable by nature being in a business we didn't understand," says Daphne. "There's no way we'll ever know as much as Tony, but we have the business sense and experience, and we just have to catch on." Even Joseph Phelps is impressed with Eisele's fate, despite the fact that he must cease production of his esteemed Eisele Vineyard Cabernet. "There's nothing more anyone could have done to optimize the potential of this vineyard," says Phelps. "They've made an important commitment to replanting and restructuring the vineyard, and they've left no stones unturned."

And if anyone knows the vineyard's potential, it is Phelps. In 1975, he produced his first Eisele Vineyard Cabernet, a whopper of a wine that rated a 97 in Laube's book. More great vintages are 1978 (97), 1979 (92) and 1985 (94). Other wineries have also tasted success with Eisele Cabernets, when they could finagle some of the sought-after grapes: Conn Creek's 1974 Cabernet earned 94 points at its peak.

Phelps may still eventually buy some of the Eisele Vineyard grapes, but will not be able to use the designation. The back label of his 1991 Eisele Vineyard Cabernet (89, $45) is appropriately headlined "The Farewell Vintage," and explains the changing of the guard. Soter's protege and assistant winemaker, Mia Klein, says the setup at Eisele Vineyard is a winemaker's dream come true: one single vineyard that makes a single vineyard wine, with a small winery just down the hill.

"When you have it all here, it's much more of a flow," says Klein, "and that's important to the winemaking process." The wines are not only stored on-site in the Araujos' new caves, but there is enough room to bottle-age them there as well, safe and sound.

Eisele Vineyard sits at the foot of the Palisades mountains, southeast of Calistoga, in an area that is by nature very warm. Breezes from the west, however, come through the Chalk Hill Gap to cool things off.

The Araujos live on the property, and are enamored with its history. "When we remodeled the house, we found newspapers inside the walls from 1885," says Daphne.

Eisele Vineyard • Napa Valley • 2155 Pickett Road • Calistoga, CA 94515
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