AMPL Wines was founded by Paulina Michalek with the 2019 vintage. The backstory relating to her move to Napa Valley spanned several decades. Born in what was the former Czechoslovakia (Prague, in Czechia also known as the Czech Republic) she was raised as a child under communist rule. Even as a child she remembers there was a part of the city that people would go to drink both beer and wine to try and escape the oppression of the times. She recalls how wine brought people together including her own family. Her parents defected in 1981 – first moving to Austria where they were assisted by the Red Cross. Then they immigrated to Illinois, living in the suburbs of Chicago. She met her husband Libor at age 13, and later married. Libor is also from the former Czechoslovakia – originally from BRNO, a wine growing region within the Czech Republic.
Moving to California, they lived in San Francisco and found themselves close to Napa Valley. They both explored the region, discovering that they enjoyed hillside grown red wines in particular, attracted to wines that tend to be more earthy and savory rather than the more opulent and fruit forward bottlings they experienced from valley floor sites.
In 2018 Paulina began thinking about starting a wine brand. Her background is in accounting as a CPA; she wanted to do something tangible, producing a product that would be enjoyed by friends and family. So she took business courses and began also learning about the wine industry. One day she casually mentioned her interest in starting a wine brand to one of her neighbors. They suggested she meet a particular winemaker, but never actually mentioned his name.
She then talked to a local contractor who helped build their home, Jim Clifton, about her idea. He asked if she really wanted to get into the wine business, and if so, he would provide her with a few names of those living on Howell Mountain. He told her to call Mike Lamborn of Lamborn Family Vineyards and Jon Jones of Paravel Wines. So she did; Mike highlighted the basics of getting into the business, and did not discourage her from doing so. And then she talked to Jon; he was highly agreeable to help make wine and suggested she start small. Jon told her about how he used to work at Lava Vine in Calistoga. She then talked to her neighbors who were going to originally introduce her to a winemaker. That winemaker was Jon Jones. Fate perhaps? Certainly small valley connections at work. Jon has crafted every wine produced for AMPL.
And with such a small production, Paulina is able to be involved in assisting as needed in the cellar. And she is always involved with Jon in blending decisions. Each wine is always produced in very limited production; to date each bottling has only been a maximum of two barrels.
The name AMPL is highly personal; its letters refer to the first names of immediate family members including her sons Alex and Max, herself and Libor. As Paulina told us, with these letters, she could have chosen Palm or Lamp, but wisely chose AMPL, a catchy name which invites questions about its meaning based on both its spelling and its capital letters. Not directly related, but AMPL is a mathematical programming language (perhaps a nod to Libor’s engineering and tech background) and if spelled as, ‘ample’ could refer to an abundant harvest.
When it came time to design the label, Paulina enlisted the help of 99 Designs, an online design company. We are very familiar with this company, because we hired them to design the catchy logo for our travel website. Later she hired another designer to fine tune the imaging that was created by 99 Designs.
Select Wines
Rosé
The 2022 AMPL Rosé of Old Vine California Zinfandel, North Coast is from grapes used to intentionally produce this wine (non saignée) from Suisun. The wine is medium copper; the minerally and fresh bouquet offers aromas of raspberries, dried rose petals, citrus blossom and lime zest. Crisp, mouth watering and refreshing, it also carries a bit of weight with a rounded and slightly creamy texture. The palate offers flavors of gooseberry, ruby grapefruit, pomelo and wild strawberries. This balanced bottling drinks easily. The spirited finish lingers with bright acidity. While tasting this wine the first pairing that came into our mind was with a toasted bagel with salmon lox and cream cheese. 2020 was the first vintage of the AMPL rosé.
Proprietary Red Blend
The 2019 AMPL Proprietary Red Blend Howell Mountain is blend of 2/3 Cabernet Sauvignon and 1/3 Merlot. This wine is deep ruby in color; the bouquet presents aromas of mocha, cocoa powder and old cedar box which reminded us of the old velvet lined cedar box gifted to us our grandmother that we used to occasionally open and sniff. There are also scents at play here of sweet tobacco spice and spiced plum. This is a savory showing with flavors of dried herbs including sage accompanied by bramble, blackberry and cherry. Bright across the palate. The tannins are dusty but well-rounded and linger with an earthy character. This wine was dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, based on the varietal percentages available that year. Moving forward Paulina wanted a lighter styled wine that would be more accessible both in terms of pricing and drinkability in its youth. With Merlot being one of her favorite red varieties, the varietal percentages of subsequent vintages of this wine are now reversed, with Merlot leading the charge.
The 2021 AMPL Proprietary Red Blend Howell Mountain is a blend of 2/3 Merlot, approximately 1/3 Cabernet Sauvignon and a skosh of Cabernet Franc. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the bouquet sports aromas of raspberry, red cherry, red plum and is accompanied by secondary aromas of mocha, cocoa powder, sweaty baseball mitt leather being worn on a hot day, cloves and other assorted darker baking spices. The palate reveals layers of fruit including plum, cherry, blackberry and bramble. Like the 2019 bottling, this is also a savory showing including notes of dried herbs – but with a plusher textural profile. The tannins are polished, rounded and exert a dusty and chalky character which ultimately outpaces the fruit on the bright finish.
The 2022 AMPL Proprietary Red Blend Howell Mountain is 2/3 Merlot, approximately 1/3 Cabernet Sauvignon and a small amount of Petit Verdot. This wine is deep ruby and opaque; for reference we tasted this one day after it was bottled. The first aromatic we noted was sweet tobacco along with dark raspberry, bramble, damp potting soil and coffee. The palate offers all the intensity of mountain grown grapes, but is never out of balance. It sports flavors of dark berries including blackberry, boysenberry, and mulberry. Lingers with flavors of roasted coffee beans, espresso, and a dusty character. The tannins are gravelly but already remarkably well polished in their youth. We tasted this one day after it was bottled. Immediate gratification.
Like with their Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, the grapes for their Proprietary Red bottlings have all been sourced from the Pestoni family owned Three Tears Vineyard on Howell Mountain. This high elevation site is located in a fairly remote part of the appellation and offers a diverse range of both elevation and exposures.
Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2021 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon (100% varietal) Three Tears Vineyard; this wine is deep ruby in color. The first aromatic we noted was of black licorice, but there are plenty of other scents in the fold including sweaty saddle leather, red cherry, black currant. The bouquet is primarily dark fruited. It is balanced with flavors of red cherry, currant, dark raspberry and blackberry. Finishes with a note of tobacco spice, crushed peppercorn and grainy and still lightly gritty tannins. A dusty character rambles on for some time, while both flavor and texture parallel each other on the long finish. This wine has loads of life ahead of it with the proper cellaring.
The 2022 AMPL Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon (100% varietal) Three Tears Vineyard is deep ruby and opaque; the bouquet reveals scents of petrichor, red cherry, licorice, red plum, dark raspberry and sweet tobacco. This wine paints diverse brush strokes across the palate in terms of both primary fruit and also secondary barrel influences. It offer flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, roasted coffee beans, espresso, other assorted darker baking spices and a toasted woodsy oak spice. Its fruit attributes include blackberry, boysenberry and dark Pakistani mulberry with an underlying note of dark chocolate. The tannins are grainy and gravelly and persist in tandem with the darker fruit characters on the extended finish. We noticed some vineyard aromatic and flavor consistencies between the 2021 and 2022 vintages. For reference, we tasted this one day after it was bottled.
The 2019 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon was AMPL’s inaugural vintage sourced from Henry Brothers Ranch. However, this property later sold to Outpost, was replanted and grapes were no longer available.
—
We have met with some extremely small Napa Valley based producers over the years; AMPL is one of the smallest. Total annual production is merely 120 cases. Sales are primarily direct to consumer with very limited local availability. ACME in St. Helena has carried their 2019 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon while the AMPLE Rosé may be at Live Fire Pizza in the Oxbow Public Market in the city of Napa. For more information, to join their membership society, with shipment options including 6, 12, or 24 bottles once a year, please visit: www.amplwine.com
Leave a Reply