If the coordinates 38’ 17’ North Latitude, 122’14’ West Longitude don’t inspire you, try the visual. You’re on a hilltop, 500 feet above sea level. To the north is a panoramic view of the Napa Valley framed by the Mayacamas Mountains to the west and the Vaca Range to the east. At your feet is a sloping 123-acre ranch with more than 60 acres planted to grapes. This is the renowned Caldwell Vineyard, a spectacular place to view the world and one of the premier sites in California to grow grapes.

First planted to grapes in 1982, the Caldwell site has all the attributes needed to produce not just good fruit, but consistently great fruit. The soil is shallow (two and a half feet deep), reddish brown in color, and laced with volcanic ash and tons of rocks. Technically speaking, it is called Aiken Series. With great drainage and few nutrients, it is the ideal medium for the noble vitis vinifera.

The weather at Caldwell is odd and wonderful. As with neighboring Carneros, the growing season is extraordinarily long. The moderating effects of nearby San Pablo Bay trigger an earlier bud break and bring cooler summer temperatures than one finds in the northern sections of the Napa Valley. At 500 feet above sea level, the property sits above the daily fog that regularly blankets the Carneros district. The property also has a fortuitous northwestern exposure. This moderates temperatures in the morning and extends the warmth of the sun late into the afternoon helping to ripen the fruit without exhausting the vines.