Arrow&Branch

Arrow&Branch was founded by Steve and Seanne Contursi. Both have enjoyed Bordeaux wines since the 1980s and have collected wine from a number of premium Bordeaux based, primarily Right Bank producers. Living in Laguna Beach (Southern California), they soon gravitated towards Napa Valley and in 2007 purchased a small property in what is now Coombsville (east of the city of Napa). This property was noted winemaker and founder of Etude Winery, Tony Soter’s former Napa residence. He sold this property to move back to the Willamette Valley in Oregon to focus on Soter Vineyards. This property was already planted to three acres of Cabernet Franc at the time (the original Cabernet Franc planting on site was from 1991) with grapes from this vineyard being used in Soter’s “Little Creek” Cabernet Franc. Since the purchase, an additional 2 acres of Cabernet Franc has been planted using the cuttings from the existing vineyard.

Steve has been interested and intrigued by coins since he was a young boy growing up in the Bronx in New York City. He channeled his passion for coins into a business and became a professional numismatist in 1975 when he founded his first coin company. Today he owns Arrow&Branch Coins, Rare Coin Wholesalers and RCW Financial, helping collectors find and purchase museum quality rare coins. One of his most interesting and high-profile sales was in 2010 when he sold a special 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar for a world record price at the time of $7.85 million dollars. To date he has overseen over 2 billion USD in coin sales and currently has the largest inventory of U.S. rare coins in the world.

The name Arrow&Branch directly ties into his love of numismatics and is a tribute to coins minted in the USA. It also represents the symbol on the back of many US minted coins with an eagle holding both an olive branch and arrows in its talons.

Helen Keplinger was hired as their first winemaker and crafted the vintages from 2008 through 2010. Wine was made in 2008 but never released. Total production that year was merely 65 cases due to a very rare frost that damaged many vineyards in Napa County including the Arrow&Branch estate. As a result, they sourced grapes from non estate vineyards, creating the “Right Bank” Blend, a wine they continue to produce each year. 2009 was their first commercial release.

Helen left to become winemaker at Bryant Family and suggested accomplished winemaker Jennifer Williams who was winemaker at Spottswoode Estate Vineyard and Winery at the time to take her place. Jennifer has been the winemaker at Arrow & Branch since the 2011 vintage. While at Spottswoode, Jennifer was partly responsible for grower relations; her vineyard expertise and vineyard contacts cultivated while at Spottswoode have have certainly been helpful for securing additional premium vineyard sources beyond Arrow&Branch’s own estate vineyards.

Arrow&Branch under the tutelage of Williams, are producing wines which represent the individuality from a particular place. Regardless of vintage, the wines while showing that year’s commonality, consistently express their own unique personalities. And we have always found the attractive aromatics a hallmark character of the Arrow&Branch wines. Furthermore, they are crafted to be both ready to drink upon release but also with the simultaneous attributes for aging.

Select Wines
Whites
While the focus is on premium red wines, Arrow & Branch produces an intriguing Sauvignon Blanc each year. In 2014 with the direction of Williams, a block of Sauvignon Blanc was planted at Stagecoach Vineyard on Atlas Peak (then owned by Jan Krupp, but now owned by GALLO). She was instrumental in the development of this planting including clonal material, trellising and row spaces. This wine is always whole cluster pressed and fermented in both neutral oak barrels and stainless steel tanks. Two highlights of this wine regardless of vintage are its aromatics (tied into clonal selection) and mineralities (associated with this particular site and its elevation). Stagecoach Vineyard receives less heat but more sunshine than some lower vineyards in Napa Valley resulting in slow and evening ripening conditions in an ideal year.

The 2023 Arrow&Branch Sauvignon Blanc is 50% Sauvignon Blanc and 50% Sauvignon Musqué; this wine is medium yellow in color. The bouquet is very aromatic with scents including a bright burst of florals of star jasmine, honeysuckle and citrus blossom – accompanied by pineapple, lychee, pineapple guava and passion fruit. Its aromatics are highly attractive. Bright, balanced and flavorful, the minerally palate offers flavors of honeycomb, mandarin orange, grapefruit and green apple. It features a lively acidity with a mouthwatering freshness on the finish. This is a perfectly balanced and beautiful wine that overdelivers for the price point. It is neither green nor grassy nor tropical, rather it is saddled somewhere in between. And we should mention that Jennifer has helped craft some of the valley’s top Sauvignon Blanc’s including for Spottswoode Winery and Eisele Vineyard (formerly Araujo Estate).

The 2014 Arrow&Branch Sauvignon Blanc is a seamless wine throughout from the bouquet onto the palate and shows no harsh or bracing acidity that sometimes this variety is known for, especially from cooler sites. The bouquet reveals both lemon and lime nuances and floral notes while framed subtly with tropical undertones. On the palate this wine drinks lively; it is fresh and vibrant showcasing the perfect balance of acidity and fruit.

Reds
The first vintage of “Black Label” was in 2010; the vineyard sources for this bottling change depending on the vintage. It is blended to be a wine more accessible in its youth, but is made with the same intention as the rest of their red wines. And grapes are never sourced specifically for this wine, but rather are made from grapes also used for their other bottlings.

The 2019 Arrow & Branch “Black Label” is 95% Cabernet Sauvignon from Lewelling and Dr. Crane vineyards in St. Helena and 5% Merlot from Stagecoach Vineyard on Atlas Peak. This wine is deep ruby in color; the bouquet smells appealing right out of the gate with dessert spices including mocha, milk chocolate and cocoa powder accompanied by blackberry and boysenberry. On the palate there are flavors of dark cherry, blackberry and a dark plum. The tannins are polished and sport a light gravelly texture which is felt more on the front of the plate than the back. This finish is slightly savory showcasing notes of dried herbs and darker spices.

The 2012 Arrow&Branch Cabernet Sauvignon “Black Label” was sourced in equal proportions from the historic Lewelling Vineyard in St. Helena and Stagecoach Vineyard (the Pritchard Hill part of this vineyard). Arrow&Branch has worked with Stagecoach fruit since their earliest vintages. Like their other red wines, this bottling often spends between 20 and 22 months in oak and another year in bottle before being released. The bouquet is elegant with aromas of currant, red cherry, cinnamon and toasted cedar. Ample but not overbearing, slightly dusty tannins anchor a long and satisfying finish.

The 2019 Arrow & Branch “Right Bank” Blend is 73% Cabernet Franc 18% Merlot and the balance is Cabernet Sauvignon from the historic Lewelling Vineyard in St. Helena. This vintage features their highest ever percentage of Cabernet Franc. This wine is deep ruby in color; the bouquet offers dried florals, a potpourri of sorts along with graphite, old library book, sweet tobacco spice and a savory character including dried herbs. Fresh, bright and balanced, on the palate there are flavors of blackberry, dark raspberry, black currant and cherry. We love how the tannins are presented; they are plush but gravelly and pace in tandem, the fruit on the extended finish. Some of the savory attributes on the bouquet also are present on the finish including of dried herbs. Very age worthy. We would love to try this again in 5 and 10 years.

The 2011 Arrow&Branch “Right Bank Blend” is deep ruby; the bouquet smells like the vintage and includes notes of red chili pepper, herbal notes including of dried herbs accompanied by red fruit aromatics, including raspberry, cherry and currant. But let the bouquet evolve in the glass; it will reveal additional aromas of baking spices, mocha and sweet tobacco. The palate is bright and balanced with gravelly textured tannins. It offers flavors of raspberry and cherry. The finish is vivacious and brightly lit lingering with red fruit, a tartness, a dusty character and a firm grip. This wine still has plenty of life ahead of it 13 years post vintage at the time of our tasting and is a handsome representation of a sometimes maligned year in Napa Valley.

The 2019 Arrow & Branch Cabernet Franc Coombsville is 100% varietal; this wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque. It offers deeply layered aromatics of dark raspberry, blackberry and cherry pie, along with bitter sweet chocolate covered mints and cocoa powder. The balanced palate reveals flavors of dark cherry, dark chocolate, blackberry. The oak is a complementary character felt subtly, more on the finish. The pillowy tannins are soft but have a cushiony feel. They are rounded and seamlessly integrated into the finish. The extended finish is paced by both texture and flavor. Typically production is miniscule, usually between 35 to 80 cases and is always released to their members. It is worth spending the effort to try and secure a bottle of this exceptional wine.

The 2012 Arrow&Branch “Red Wine” (Bordeaux styled blend) features a majority of their estate Cabernet Franc blended with varying percentages of other sourced red varieties from locations within Napa Valley. While starting with excellent grapes, this wine always gives Jennifer a chance to showcase her blending talents based on each particular vintage. The bouquet reveals deeper notes of darker fruit including blackberry, with chocolate undertones along with some floral notes (lavender). As it opens it becomes more floral with some aromatics of raspberries also showing. Rounded on the entry, this wine delivers plenty of flavor and acidity. Smooth integrated tannins along with a sweetness of mocha anchor the finish.

Dr. Crane Vineyard is one of Beckstoffer Vineyards six Heritage Vineyards identified as the most historically significant and premium quality vineyards under their ownership. This particular vineyard was originally planted in 1858 by Napa pioneer Dr. George Belden Crane. Jennifer introduced them to the site; today they are only one a handful of producers making wine from this special slice of St. Helena.

The 2019 Arrow & Branch Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Cabernet Sauvignon is 99% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot. Some vintages have Petit Verdot and some do not. This wine is deep ruby and opaque; the bouquet is open-knitted, sweetly fruited and expressive right up front. It offers scents of prune, plum, dark raspberry and blackberry pie accompanied by mocha, vanilla and espresso (with both scents showing more prominently as this wine evolves in the glass). It is extremely well layered in terms of both flavor and texture. A hedonistic showing on the palate, it offers flavors of dark cherry, raspberry, boysenberry and blackberry. The texture offers a noticeable density of tannins, but they are presented with a chalky and chewy character. They are rounded, polished and linger for some time. This wine is built to age. But it is also built to drink now.

The 2012 Arrow&Branch Dr. Crane Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is dark ruby in the glass. One could most likely pick out its aromatics in a blind tasting of other Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon wines; it offers a pleasing mix of dustiness and cigar smoke framed by elegant fruit. It is also slightly floral. As the wine breathes this element of ‘dust’ continues to show. The mid palate structure is impressive revealing a noticeable density of fruit. This wine drinks very well young. And if you are familiar with the 2012 vintage, make a point to seek out the 2013 vintage as this wine is equally if not more impressive. Both the 2012 and the 2013 tasted side by side provide an excellent demonstration of the vintage variation between these two years.

The 2019 Arrow & Branch Vine Hill Ranch (clone 4 and 337) 100% varietal; the attractive primary fruit aromatics accompany the pleasing secondary attributes. The bouquet offers scents of dark chocolate, blackberry, spiced plum, boysenberry preserves, dark cherry, dark olive, old cedar box, and sweet tobacco. On the palate there is simply ‘more’; it is primarily darkly fruited with flavors of blackberry, boysenberry and plum. It is layered with a generous depth. The finish is rich, juicy and extremely long lasting with both fruit and texture pacing each other. There is a pleasing tension between texture, acidity and flavor. The tannins are resolved, rounded, lightly grainy and pace the fruit for quite some time on the extended finish. Their texture is an appealing character of this bottling. Extremely age worthy. Vine Hill Ranch is always one of our favorite vineyard sites in the valley; if one was to compile a docket of Napa Valley’s best and most coveted sites, this should always be towards the top of that list.

Due to smoke taint issues from the resulting fires, no red wines were produced by Arrow&Branch in 2020. And starting with the 2022 vintage, a new still-to-be named brand separate from Arrow&Branch will focus on the wholesale market and will be produced from grapes growing on their Oak Knoll property. We will update our notes here once we have more details and the name of this brand.

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Their bottles are an homage to First Growth properties in Bordeaux; they are the same green Bordeaux bottles these chateau’s use for their own red wines. This is one of only several Napa Valley based producers using these particular bottles for their red wines. And each bottle is creatively labeled; a quote by American statesman, Benjamin Franklin is printed on every cork. Quotes have varied over the years and have included several Franklin quips such as, “mind your own business” and “wish not so much to live long, as to live well.” And their recognition of Franklin is a more subtle nod to his role with France as our country’s first American Minister (the equivalent of Ambassador at the time) and to his love of wine. Each label is unique with multiple references to coin heritage in the United States. Even their capsules have a numismatic theme.

Most of the wine is sold direct via a mailing list although they have some select distribution in California, Georgia, and North Carolina. Locally several retails outlets carry some of their wines including ACME Wine Shop in St. Helena as well as at K. Laz Collection in Yountville. They are members of the Napa Valley Vintners, Napa Valley Grapegrowers and the Coombsville Vintners and Growers.

Arrow&Branch Winery, Oak Knoll District
In late 2020, Steve and Seanne purchased the 10-acre Williamson Family Vineyard which was already planted to vines including 8 acres of several clones of mature Cabernet Sauvignon in the Oak Knoll District. This site is located just south of Silenus Winery; it also borders part of Dry Creek and is located on an old alluvial fan.

After the purchase the name of the vineyard was changed to Lady Liberty Vineyard. Arrow&Branch purchased this property from Bob Williams, the founder of the no longer producing Ideology Cellars. The vineyard has been managed by Mike Wolf since 2020. The property came with a coveted winery permit and in Spring 2022, construction began on a dedicated winery for Arrow&Branch. The architect of record was Taylor Lombardo with the construction overseen by Nordby. The winery was finished by mid 2024 and opened at the end of July in advance of the 2024 harvest. The winery is its own separate entity/business with Arrow&Branch one of their clients.

Prior to having their own winery, Arrow&Branch made wine in several custom crush wineries including Caldwell, Wheeler Farms and Brasswood Cellars. Borrowing the best practices from these wineries, Williams played an important role in the design of this winery. A special cold room can be used to temporarily store grapes post harvest; this room can also be heated if needed and small tanks can be stored here and connected into the glycol plumbing system for cooling. Windows in the high ceiling in both of the primary winery rooms helps distribute natural light. A covered but semi-open crush pad is located outside of the winery.

The winery owns two presses, one is a bladder press and the other a basket press and also an optical sorter. Grapes are gently raised via a forklift using a moveable bin when ready to be transferred into tank. The stainless steel tanks are dual jacketed, essentially turning one tank into two tanks if needed, as temperature can be controlled separately for both the lower and upper sections. All tanks have their own dedicated pumps. And barrels can be hooked up to a wine barrel washing machine manufactured by Tom Beard Company, helping save additional manual labor.

The winery houses both production and hospitality for Arrow & Branch as well as several other small premium wine brands. And these producers are able to host a limited number of visitors on site for tastings. This is similar to how nearby Silenus Winery operates, Brasswood Estate and also Arrow&Branch’s former home, Wheeler Farms. A space in the center of the winery can be used to host visitors; it is temperature separate from the winery operations, so visitors can enjoy their experience at room temperature, rather than the much cooler, cellar temperature. And there are views of the cellar operations from here as well as part of their vineyard to the west.

Several tasting experiences are offered including the Current Release Experience, a The “Right Bank Blend” Retrospective and a The “Sense of Place” Single Vineyard Tasting.

And while the winery is surrounded by vineyards and is in the country, it is only a 5 minute drive from the center of Yountville or 10-15 minutes from downtown Napa.

Arrow & Branch Home, Laguna Beach
This boutique lifestyle retail space was founded by Seanne and is operated in conjunction with her two daughters Lexie and Nicolette. Arrow & Branch Home opened in 2021 on Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) in south Laguna Beach and contains vintage garments, one of a kind antique pieces and accessories such as handbags and décor. A number of culinary items are also available. Select bottlings of Arrow&Branch are also available for sale (but not for tasting). Special in-store events are sometimes offered including their Sip & Shop.

In 2022 Lexie joined the Arrow&Branch team, focusing on client relations. Lexie has long been an actress and dancer having performed in television, film and commercials and along with her sister, operate Chat Noir Jewels, a vintage fine jewelry line based in Laguna Beach. And jewelry available by Chat Noir Jewels is also sold here.

The space is located within a very short walk of several beaches including Thalia Street Beach. Parking is curbside along Highway 1 or if available along several nearby side streets.

Total annual production of the Arrow&Branch wines is around 2,000 cases. For more information, to purchase wine, to schedule a tasting, to join their mailing list or to join one of three levels of membership in The Society, including 3, 6 or 12+ bottles shipped three times a year, visit: www.arrowandbranch.com