V12 Vineyards

V12 Vineyards was founded by race car driver and auto enthusiast, Jimmy Vasser; their first vintage was from 2008. Jimmy was introduced to Napa Valley and its wines through an auto dealership he and his father James purchased in 1998 in the city of Napa. This original dealership is still there and at the time of their purchase housed both the Toyota and Chevrolet dealerships. In 2008 during the heart of the economic downtown they built a separate Toyota dealership. Both the Jimmy Vasser Toyota and Jimmy Vasser Chevrolet dealerships are within about 1/4 of a mile from each other on Soscol Ave selling both used and new Chevrolet and Toyota vehicles.

Jimmy’s interest in racing came from his father James (died in 2021) who was an amateur drag racer and hot rod enthusiast who in 1974 won the Grand National Roadster Show, custom car competition. His daughter Vicki (Jimmy’s sister) told us about having to escape from Iran in 1979 when she was only 9 years old. James moved the family to Tehran in 1973; they fled to Cyprus on one of the last flights during the height of the Iranian Revolution. But unfortunately he was not able to retrieve about $50,000 dollars.

He later returned to Iran to try and smuggle his money out of the country. He stuffed cash in the socks he was wearing and also taped it to a briefcase. But he was searched at at the airport and when his briefcase was opened the cash was revealed. He was then detained for 48 hours and stripped nude other than his socks. Eventually he was released, but not before fearing for his life. And while he lost the money that was in in briefcase he escaped with the money smuggled in his socks.

He moved the family to Morgan Hill, CA where a friend helped arrange the logistics of their move and assisted with finding housing. Later they moved to Los Angeles to pursue his interest in racing.

Jimmy began racing at age 5 and enjoyed a long and successful career in racing before retiring in 2008. He is one of several Napa Valley winery or wine brand owners whose careers have involved auto racing including Mario Andretti, Randy Lewis, Jeremy Nickel, Danica Patrick, Randy Lynch and Jeff Gordon among others. Jimmy was the 1996 IndyCar Series Champion, that same year also won the PPG Cup and in 1997 won the Best Driver ESPY Award. Jimmy has also won at iconic races such as the Long Beach Grand Prix and at Laguna Seca Raceway. At one point he started 211 consecutive races. Now involved in team ownership, in 2018 he formed Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan with fellow driver James “Sulli” Sullivan.

Jimmy was interested in hillside property in Napa Valley and spent some time looking before he located a 45-acre property in the Vaca mountains just above the Stags Leap AVA and below the Atlas Peak AVA. He purchased this property from Robert Mondavi’s grandson, Rob Mondavi in 2001; at the time it was not planted to vines; the average soil depth is pretty shallow, often only several inches deep.

The “soils” that form the hillsides along and near Soda Canyon Road are extremely rocky and it took a significant effort to prepare these hillsides for growing grapes. Jimmy hired Davie Piňa of Pina Vineyard Management (a 6th generation Napa Valley farmer who is now retired) and Davie helped identify the potential for growing high quality grapes on this particular site. While there were other grapes growing in the vicinity one never knows for sure the quality of a site until it has produced a few vintages.

Soil pits were dug, a reliable source of water was identified and then the decision was made to plant vines. Preparing the site was no easy task; they had to blast and “rip” parts of the hillside to break up the rock to make it more suitable for grapes to grow here. A fair amount of rock was also moved further down on the property which helps with drainage. Ultimately 7.5 acres were planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, of which there are four clones and 1/2 acre to Malbec. The Vasser’s continue to sell some of their grapes to other producers.

Today their vineyard is managed by John Derr Farming. When he was working for Pina Vineyard Management, Derr helped plant the V12 vineyard. Winemaker Steve Reynolds crafted the V12 wines for two years; winemaker Chad Alexander has made the wines since 2010.

Several distinctive micro climates are on the property as it relates to their vines. The back or Soda Canyon Road blocks number 3 and 4 face east and receive less sunshine; as a result, the grapes typically hang longer and are picked later then the front block. The front or west facing blocks number 1 and 2 face west and have excellent sunshine exposure even in the late afternoon. Each block is 2-acres. Two distinct wines are made from each of these blocks.

The name V12 has meaning both as it relates to the auto industry and their specific vineyard. Twelve is Jimmy’s championship number, V12 is a high-end racing engine and if you break this number up regarding their vineyard, it is 4 vineyard blocks containing 4 clones planted on 4 different rootstocks.

Select Wines
Chardonnay
The only non-estate wine is their Chardonnay sourced from a vineyard on the Napa Valley side of the Carneros AVA. The 2021 V12 Cellars Chardonnay Carneros is medium gold in color. Its bouquet smells like springtime in the glass, certainly appropriate as we are tasting this wine in late April at the 60th Napa Valley Wine Library tasting under the oaks at Silverado Country Club on a picture perfect clear day. Its scents include honeycomb, star jasmine, honeydew melon and chamomile. No oak or buttery expression here. It is minerally on the palate with flavors of kiwi, honeydew melon, green apple and some citrus influence including pomelo and grapefruit. This is a comfortable and easy drinking Chardonnay that one wants to keep revisiting. And it is refreshing, an adjective we rarely use to describe wines from this variety grown and produced in Napa Valley. The mouth feel sports a silky and supple texture, balanced perfectly by the acidity. This wine was aged for 18 months in 40% new French oak barrels and 60% one year French Burgundy barrels.

The 2012 V 12 Vineyards Chardonnay was not put through any malolactic fermentation. It shows golden straw color in the glass with various tropical fruit aromas including yellow pineapple, hints of banana and some baking spices. On the palate it offers a simultaneously supple mouth feel with a crispness of acidity. There are flavors of citrus; this wine drinks very easily.

444 Cabernet Sauvignon
The name 444 refers to 4 vineyard blocks containing 4 clones planted on 4 different rootstocks. Although not intentional when they chose this name, 444 also refers to a type of tractor engine. The background image on the label is a topographical outline of their vineyard. This was the first wine that V 12 Vineyards produced.

The 2019 V12 Vineyards 444 Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby and opaque; the bouquet reveals a union of both darker fruits and darker spices. These include scents of dark plum skin, blackberry, dark raspberry, boysenberry, bramble, dark chocolate, and cloves. The entry is soft, so is the mid palate and also the finish. We wrote creamy to describe its comfortable texture. The palate offers flavors of dark cherry, blackberry, mulberry and boysenberry with a hint of mocha. The finish is bright. This wine is easy and enjoyable to drink in its youth. The finish lingers with a light drying character which parallels for the fruit for some time before eventually pulling away. Also a light tobacco spice. This wine is 100% varietal.

The 2010 V12 Vineyards 444 Cabernet Sauvignon offers an inviting bouquet with baking spices, mocha and a sweet core of fruit that remains as the wine continues to breathe. It is refined and smooth on the palate with a mid palate jammy quality; this is a wine the begs to be consumed and drinks well by itself. Delicate tannins linger softly on the finish.

500 Special Cabernet Sauvignon
The 500 Special was originally bottled as a shiner before a label was designed. Jimmy hosted a small party on the V12 Vineyard property for his circle of racing buddies. One of his friends is racing helmet designer Troy Lee. Jimmy was one of Troy’s first clients. When Troy discovered they still had no label design for this particular bottle, he placed a piece of grey duct tape on the bottle. Then he pulled out his sharpie and created a rough image of what is now the label for this wine.

The 2019 V12 500 Special Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Malbec. This wine is deep ruby and opaque; the nose offers aromas of chocolate, espresso, blackberry, boysenberry and Pakistani mulberry. There are also layers of petrichor, sage and pepper at play here. This is a ripely fruited nose, but is not over ripe. The palate mirrors the bouquet with flavors of dark berries including blackberry, boysenberry and dark cherry. One can feel a density of tannins which fully and broadly coat the palate, but they are polished and rounded. Their textural feel lingers for some time with a drying and almost chalky character on the extended finish. This is certainly a more robust wine than the same vintage of the 444 bottling. The finish lingers with a light tobacco spice accompanied by dried herbs including sage, a note of dark pepper and persistent woodsy/cedar spice.

The 2014 V12 Vineyards 500 Special Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby; the sweetly fruited and generous aromatics are a pleasing union of both ripe fruits and baking spices. These include notes of blackberry, dark raspberry, boysenberry, cassis, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, mocha, espresso, cigar box and melting brown chocolate. Gorgeous. Aromatics like this are why we age wines; for reference we tried this bottle 10 years post vintage. The palate offers flavors of blackberry preserves, Pakistani mulberry, raspberry, licorice, dark chocolate and sweet tobacco. Plush and polished, the tannins are fine-grained and linger with a subtle drying sensation, felt more on the front of the palate than the back.

The 2010 V12 Vineyards 500 Special Cabernet Sauvignon was entirely sourced from their “front” or western facing blocks. The grapes were handpicked from the “sweet” spots in the vineyard resulting in a very limited production bottling. And this wine is not made every year as it is only crafted during the ‘best’ vintages. One vintage in which this wine was not produced was 2011, which featured cooler temperatures and rains happening at inopportune times. The 2010 vintage shows a richness of fruit in the glass – it is a more robust wine than the 444 yet still retains a pleasing balance. The bouquet sports lively aromas including of black cherry, and a liqueur like character, dark color and bright acidity. The tannins are there but do not overpower the palate. This is a wine one can drink now or certainly cellar a number of years. This wine was in barrel for two years and then was aged a full year in bottle before it is released. The grapes were fermented using indigenous yeasts rather than commercial yeast. The wine was bottled unfiltered.

V12 Cabernet Sauvignon
The V12 Cabernet Sauvignon is their flagship bottling. Grapes for this wine are hand-selected from the most premium parts of their east facing vineyard blocks.

The 2019 V12 Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby; the bouquet is savory with aromas of plum, blood orange, blackberry, dark chocolate, espresso and a hint of old cedar box and sage deeper in the bouquet. Layers of more darker than red fruits are presented across the intensely flavored palate including blackberry, boysenberry and mulberry. The tannins show more on the front of the palate than the back and sport a lightly grainy and gravelly texture. The lively and extended finish lingers with layers of fruit, a light dusty character, dark peppercorn and a note of dried tobacco leaf. This bottling features the most robust finish of their estate wines in terms of both texture but especially it’s intensity of flavor. Would like to try this bottling again in 10-15 years. A metal plate is the label; it was produced in Italy and is an homage to V 12 engines containing a metal emblem.

The 2015 V12 Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby; the bouquet offers aromas of bramble, raspberry, cherry, blackberry, sweaty leather, mocha, cigar humidor filled with cigars, dry earth, vanilla, and cloves. The palate offers ripe fruited berry flavors including blackberry, boysenberry, and raspberry. There are loads of fruit still, 9 years post vintage at the time of our tasting. The gravelly tannins anchor a fruit filled and savory finish. Lingers dry and dusty with notes of dried herbs and dried tobacco leaf. These characteristics ultimately outpace the fruit on the extended finish. This wine at this age would be the perfect companion with tri-tip at one of the best BBQ restaurants in the state of California, Copper Top in Big Pine.

The 2012 V12 Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes were fermented in barrel and aged for 36 months. The wine is deep ruby in the glass; the aromas show various black fruits leading to a palate that is more red fruit driven with flavors of raspberries, red cherry and assorted baking spices. The tannins are broad based, with a firmer grip than the other two estate wines but still well integrated into the overall structure.

Malbec
V12 originally planted Malbec on the property to be used as a blending variety. But after tasting the grapes from these vines, Alexander suggested they produce a stand alone wine. This wine is typically reserved for wine club members.

The 2019 V12 Malbec is deep ruby with a purplish rim; this wine is 100% varietal. The bouquet sports aromas of baking spices along with chocolate, mocha, blackberry preserves, boysenberry, dark plum and a floral note of violets. There is a distinctive sweet and savory character to the nose which is appealing. The palate reveals flavors blueberry, blackberry and raspberry. The tannins are rounded, polished and very well resolved; they are seamlessly integrated into the finish. This wine is drinking very well 5 years post vintage at the time of our tasting. The bright, energetic, mouth watering and fruit-filled finish really focuses on the varietal characteristics rather than being influenced from its élevage. A light note of cedar shows deep in the finish.

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While Jimmy’s home base is in Las Vegas, he is still on the road a significant part of every year. His sister Vicki lives in Napa Valley, is the Managing Director, oversees their hospitality and events and hosts personalized tastings.

A winery was almost completed by October 2017, but then the fires on Atlas Peak destroyed it. Rather than use this as an excuse to continue to produce their wines at other wineries, they decided to rebuild. Incidentally helmet designer Troy Lee’s brother Kelly Lee helped design and build the winery. The only part of the previous structure that was salvageable was the existing foundation; they used this and kept a similar footprint for the current winery. The lower floor contains barrels and small tanks while the upstairs is used for hospitality. The first crush on property was in 2023.

Personalized visits are hosted at the winery; from the outdoor deck one has expansive views of the surrounding hills within the Vaca mountain range including a view of the historical Soda Canyon Resort, currently owned by Restoration Hardware. Visits are for serious wine enthusiasts and collectors.

Annual production is small; each wine is usually only several hundred cases or less with a total production of around 700-800 cases each year. For more information, to purchase wine or to schedule a tasting, visit: www.v12vineyards.com

Jimmy Vasser, Chevrolet and Toyota Dealerships, Napa

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