Anselmo Vigne

has vineyards located in the hills above the Silverado Trail not far from Darioush and Signorello Wineries. Anselmo “Steve” Simi is the owner – he grew up helping his parents make their home wine. He looked in the Napa area for over 10 years before he found this ideal location to grow Cabernet Sauvignon. The land was site of an existing vineyard planted in the late 1980′s. At the time of the purchase the production was over 5 tons per acre which is not the tonnage you need for high quality wine and in the ensuing years he brought production down to under 3 tons per acre. Steve spent hundreds of hours working and improving the vineyard property and infrastructure. The vineyard is well drained with rocky clay loam type soil. Great attention goes into maintaining excellent exposure of the grapes to the sun so that ripening is even. Their first release was in 2002 and they concentrate on a 100% varietal Cabernet Sauvignon each year.

Their total production each year runs merely several hundred cases and quality is of the utmost importance here. Any years in which the “juice” does not make the quality cut will not be used, or less juice will be used and a vintage may not be released or will be released in lesser quantities. Respect for the quality of what is released to the consumer is often hard to find at winery that mass produces wines. Plans are developing for possibly a second wine but as of review time in 2008 this wine has not yet been released. We tried their 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. The nose is full of fruit including cherries and red currants and the mouth feel is soft and silky. The mid palate has tones of chocolate and tobacco and the long finish leaves you only wanting more of this wine. Their Cabernets are priced rather reasonably for fruit from this particular area of Napa Valley. Also note that Steve’s wife Cecilia is a classically trained painter and sculpturist and her works appear on some of their promotional material. Visit: www.anselmo-vigne.com

NOTE: This review has been archived.
REASON: Stopped producing wine commercially