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Single vineyards will define Napa’s future
The Napa Valley will increasingly be defined less by broader appellations and more by single vineyard, single block wines in the near future thinks winemaker Tor Kenward.
Speaking to the drinks business, Kenward said that as it wasn’t really possible to “break Napa up much more [by appellation]. If there’s really a trend it’s less the appellation and more the vineyard. It’s really going to come down to, in the next 10 years, what are the great vineyards?”
Having left Beringer after more than 30 years when it was acquired by what was then the Foster’s Group in the early 2000s, he set up his own winery and went about making a range of single vineyard wines.
These are plots he “had his eye on” following his time at Beringer and include Beckstoffer To Kalon, Cimarossa, Hudson and Beresini.
Napa might be closer to this single vineyard-driven situation today if history hadn’t got in the way. Kenward pointed out that Napa’s wines were winning awards in the 19th century as the industry grew and flourished between 1863 and 1900.
There were around 200 wineries in Napa (over 700 in California) before the 1929 economic crash and Prohibition set the American wine industry “right back”. When the re-emergence of Napa came about in the 1970s, there weren’t more than 40 or so wineries in the region.
Kenward said he felt “very fortunate” to be witnessing the “renaissance” of California’s wine industries, and vineyards that have “already proven to be world class taking centre stage again.”
Yet if the focus does fall further on individual vineyards might a classification be needed? And how would one go about ranking the greatest vineyards in Napa if and when the occasion comes?
In some sense a classification of sorts already exists, based on a general consensus about which vineyards are superior – and reflected in the price of fruit per ton.
Kenward explained that a ton of Cabernet from the much lauded Beckstoffer To Kalon vineyard cost him US$26,000 a ton. The average price for fruit in Napa is around $6,000 p/ton.
He noted that had been a few attempts to rank, rate and categorise the best vineyards but those involved had “always backed off” at some point or another, usually because “we’re not there yet”.
Nonetheless, Kenward suggested that it won’t be long before fresh attempts are made to do so again – but who will be behind it? “Who would you trust?”
One thing is for sure, if Napa ever does think about classifications it would do well to heed the example of St Emilion and the on-going brouhaha over two failed classifications, the most recent having taken place in 2012.
Very interesting article. For the most part I agree that single vineyard wines will become a significant part of the future. But these wines will be for the “1%” of the wie consuming public. There is an overlap between these consumers and the wealthy one-per-centers we hear about. I have always thought wine is a beverage to be consumed and enjoyed and that at the end of the meal the bottle is empty. At $26,000 a ton and the yield being 135 gallons a ton you have a wine with direct costs for wine in the bottle of almost $40 a bottle. Add the other direct costs and the indirect costs (including sending kids to the U. of Bordeaux) and then margins for wholesale and retail profits and what will the price for a bottle be?
I am happy to be retired. Tom Kruse
Tor Kenward is the owner-winemaker of his own winery, TOR Kenward Family Wines, but he was never the winemaker of Beringer. He was the Vice President (PR) and winery spokesperson for some 25 years . . .
Jason,
Did I miss something? Where does the article state that Tor was the winemaker at Berringer?
Michael Butler
Jason,
When published the article incorrectly stated that Tor Kenward had been the winemaker at Beringer and has since been amended.
I would like to get permission to use the photo that was published in this article. We held a technical meeting that and we are currently working on the proceedings for this meeting. We would like to use the photo on the cover. Can you tell who I need to contact for this permission. Your urgent reply is greatly appreciated. Can you please post your reply to my email?
jeff Ames is the head winemaker at TOR (he was mentored as an assistant under Thomas Brown prior) TOR kenwood did make a barrel of wine from Beringer every vintage for 30 years from the best vineyards of the Beringer portfolio and was mentored in winemaking and learned winemaking from winemakers like Ed sbragia. Not that this article claims that TOR made wine for Beringer. I have talked with vineyard owners as well about classifying blocks of vineyards in the way that Burgundy has. Burgundy does not have a perfect system…yet I believe this would be a good direction to go toward. I do only vineyard designate wines-yet the blocks in those vineyards matter. The entire vineyard may be good compared to others in an appellation, however, they are in my opinion junior blocks that in some cases have ever produced wines of the caliber of other blocks in the same vineyard. There are to some degree blocks that are junior due to replanting or knowledge of prior vintages are now being farmed differently or had to be replanted due to phloroxa or viruses etc that may produce consistent stellar wines in the future and may be granted a higher class at that point if we can ever go to some type of class system. I think it’s beneficial for consumers to know within vineyards which blocks the wines are sourced from because there is certainly, again in my opinion, a substantial difference. I’m not sure why there is resistance to go to this type of classification as appellation designations certainly have proven beneficial. It is something we should explore and in the very least study to gain more clarity on.
That’s an absurd and unsustainable price for grapes. Maybe that’s what a ton would cost if you bought .001% of a ton and did the math to say that’s what was paid. I have serious doubts given its multiple of standard deviations away from the mean of grape prices in the Napa Valley.
Hey Rob,
A quick check of the 2013 crop report shows with the average at $5473, the highest price paid for Napa Cab was $35,000 for 11.8 tons. There were about 31 tons sold for $25,000 and up. And about 300 tons cumulatively at $17,500 and up. Not to mention many sales at $10,000+ per ton with several of those lots over 100 tons. Some of that may be financial juggling between winery and vineyard operations under the same ownership, but still, that’s a lot of expensive fruit. I’m sure you know Beckstoffer sells his elite vineyard-designated fruit on a bottle-cost basis. The calculations can vary but it is essentially 100 times retail bottle price per ton. So if the winery is getting $250 a bottle for To Kalon to their mailing list, Beckstoffer gets $25,000 per ton for his fruit. Sweet! Wine-Searcher.com says most TOR To Kalon bottles average $150+ retail in the open market. I’ll bet there are a few at $250 to the mailing list.
Thanks so much for using a picture of our vineyard. A beautiful fall day in Southern Oregon.
Del Rio Vineyards
Gold Hill, OR
Nice photo of the primer ultras premium vineyard Del Rio Vineyards. Southern Oregon, Rouge Valley.
If anyone in the current era knows what he’s talking about on stuff like this, it’s the estimable Tor. The key counterindicative question is:
To what extent is pricing, among other factors, artificially inflated by snobbery, as opposed to resting on competitive quality?
Quite honestly, the concept of a vineyard owner stating the value of wine sold and how much he or she should make after selling grapes based upon how much a bottle is sold for is greedy, egregious and sadly indicative of the state of the wine industry. Where else does this occur? Yes, you can set a price for grapes, and if you wish to sell those grapes or juice on either limited basis or to express your distaste and cut off supplies so be it, but to control the end price, and make additional profit? I’m sad for the wine industry, and I am talking about Napa, especially…
Toby, when one calculates the cost of purchasing land planted or not in the napa valley and farming it for 3-4 years to get a meaningful harvest and upgrading it in year 7 and replanting it in year 21+ you will discover that you would be paying a 100pt land grower a 15-20% premium vs owning and you can walk away in the prior not the later- you’re on the hook for life on the later. It depends on your aim- if the land costs a fortune and then you pay to upgrade or plant and farm it- you’re gonna be very close to andy’s Price just for andy to do it all for you. Less than 3% of maps show 100pt land. Now if 100pt land is not your aim (based on soul maps and farming not anyone’s subjective opinion) and avg to good land and middle of the field market plan is your aim with heavy mass distribution then owning land anywhere in California can accomplish average for less price and at least a break even or possibly profitable sale if need to sell in future. It all depends on your aim. There’s a place for it all and none is less worthy of an aim than the other because it’s about your individual desire because both have potential to be profitable depending on how much profit and work you are willing to do and capital you have. It’s not egregious when you do the math.
Soil 🙂 and 3% 100pt land on soil maps.