Vineyard 7 & 8

Vineyard 7 & 8. Founders Launny and Weezie Steffens purchased 40 acres of land high atop Spring Mountain in 1999. Both have traveled extensively in Asia and developed an appreciation for numerology; the number 7 represents luck in western culture while the number 8 is a symbol of prosperity in Asian cultures. In another tie into numbers, Launny has worked in the investment world for decades including for 15 years as the head of private-client business for Merrill Lynch & Co. Today he oversees Spring Mountain Capital, a private investment firm based in Manhattan that he founded in 2001. Weezie is a talented artist and some of her works are displayed at the winery including several paintings and over-sized corkscrews.

The winery was built from 2004 through 2008 and includes an 8,000 square foot crescent shaped cave; the winery is located almost on top of the Spring Mountain ridge at an elevation of slightly above 2,000 feet. The journey from the town of St. Helena on the valley floor to the winery takes about 15 minutes on a windy road through the forested slopes of the Mayacamas mountains. Any elevation of over 2000 feet in Napa County is among a select group of mountain vineyards and wineries.

The Steffen family purchased the property including existing vineyards in 1999 and kept some of the original plantings from 1981 as well as planted additional vines. Their Chardonnay dates from 1981 and are among the older Chardonnay vines still producing in Napa Valley. This old-vine Chardonnay shortlist from Napa Valley includes Haynes Vineyard in Coombsville planted in 1967, School House from 1968, Signorello from 1980 and a CHANDON owned block of Chardonnay dating from 1982. And Vineyard 7 & 8 also has Cabernet Sauvignon planted in 1983/1984.

Grapes from the property used to be sold to Sunny St. Helena (whose location is now home to Merryvale Vineyards). Vineyard 7 & 8 produces wines exclusively from their estate, focusing on Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon and a red blend.

Chardonnay is not a variety that first comes to mind when discussing hillside vineyards in Napa, but Spring Mountain has several growers of this variety including Stony Hill, Smith Madrone and School House. Merely a few miles as the crow flies across from their winery sits the Howell Mountain Appellation. One would not even think of growing Chardonnay there, despite the relatively close proximity as that area is much warmer than Spring Mountain which sees more cooling coastal influences. A bit of snow often falls here in the winter and in the summer this area is typically above the fog. Growing conditions are unique in that in the summer the warmest parts of the day are usually in the mornings, becoming much cooler by late afternoon and then warming up a bit at night as the cooler air descends to the valley floor.

The winery sits a short ways in on the Spring Mountain “summit winery road” and affords one fantastic views of Mt. St. Helena and the neighboring mountains. The entrance to the winery is built to resemble a home and first-time guests to the property generally aren’t aware of the size and functionality incorporated into the building.

A massive nearly 1,000-pound copper door greets visitors at the entrance; this door is so perfectly balanced on its hinge that often the wind will blow it open. Once inside guests step into a room with a 180-degree windowed view of the surrounding mountains. On a clear day from this room, the views are absolutely awe inspiring. This main room contains a sizable table made from wood dated at over 40,000 years old. It is Kauri wood from New Zealand and is well preserved from being in an oxygen deficient environment in a bog. This type of wood is considered some of the oldest workable wood in the world. While sitting down at this table, look up – a satellite was creatively re-purposed as a chandelier with the exterior layered with a similar look as on the main door of the winery.

And a more recent addition is the inspirational flag, creatively made of hose used by firefighters who fought the destructive Glass Fire on the Vineyard 7 & 8 property in 2020.

During the first few releases Vineyard 7 & 8 sold their wines via the wholesale market but have since expanded to now sell primarily direct to consumer. The first couple of vintages were also silk screened on the bottle; starting in 2007 the labels transitioned to paper. Launny and Weezie’s son Wesley is the Estate Director and the Assistant Winemaker; some of his prior experience in the business was as a cellar master at well-known Harlan Estate working with winemaker Bob Levy and at BOND Estates. Wesley also spent time working with Thomas Keller at the acclaimed French Laundry in Yountville.

Martha McClellan is the current Vineyard 7 & 8 winemaker; she has built an impressive resume in the valley with time spent working with properties such as Blankiet Estate, SLOAN Estate and currently at Checkerboard Vineyards. Founding winemaker was Luc Morlet of Napa’s Morlet Vineyards.

Ever since the Steffen Family purchased this property, great attention to detail has been placed on the nuances of managing their vines. Specific rows are picked only when they are ready thus ensuring that particular vineyard blocks are picked at multiple times allowing only fully ripe grapes to be fermented. Their soils are porous and very well drained. A very unique water collection system is in place for the vineyard and features a small canal which wraps around part of the vineyard collecting excess water which is then re-used. A number of small tanks within the winery ensures that they have enough room to micromanage fermentations block by block.

A commercial kitchen is located on site and can be used for private events such as dinners. All tastings include several cheese pairings.

Select Wines
Chardonnay
The 2022 Vineyard 7 & 8 Estate Chardonnay is deep gold in color; the elegant bouquet is an appealing union of citrus, tropical and stone fruits. These scents include lemon zest, apricot, peach, vanilla, butterscotch, honeycomb, lychee in syrup, ripe pineapple and mango. Its texture is a hallmark attribute with a fleshy, creamy and rounded mouthfeel – expressing noticeable weight without being heavy. On the palate there are flavors of apricot, baked apples, peach, yellow nectarine, ripe papaya and mango. The balanced but bright acidity keeps this wine fresh and lively and will carry it for years to come. This is a thoughtfully made Chardonnay that went through 100% malolactic fermentation and was aged 16 months in new French oak barrels.

The 2004 Vineyard 7 & 8 Estate Chardonnay is an attractive expression of extremely rare Spring Mountain grown grapes from this variety. It’s an elegant wine with attractive flavors including lemon, pineapple and some toasted nut nuances. Their Chardonnays can also be aged for several years, but perhaps not recommended for 19 years in a 375ml bottle at the time of our second tasting of this wine. After all this time its color had become a deep gold/amber color; the bouquet had turned into a union of nutty + honeyed characteristics and ripe stone fruits including apricot, recently torched crème Brule, vanilla and caramel. The palate offers flavors of walnut, honeycomb, baked apple, butter, apricot, peaches in light syrup (without any sweetness) and a rich flavor filled finish with a still noticeable brightness of acidity. The mouth feel is supple and creamy with an almost saline or briny texture. This wine is past its peak, although maybe it would not be as mature, had we tasted it from a magnum; surprisingly it is still quite drinkable.

The only vintage to date that was produced from non-estate Chardonnay was in 2012 when they sourced grapes from the Lone Oaks Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. A beautiful showing, only 125 cases were produced but this wine was never released.

Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2021 Vineyard 7 & 8 Cabernet Sauvignon, Spring Mountain District is deep ruby in color and nearly opaque; the plush, ripe and dark fruit forward bouquet offers scents of black cherry at the peak of its ripeness, mid summer blackberries, Pakistani mulberry, fig newton and a healthy dose of barrel influences including milk chocolate, mocha, cocoa powder, chocolate brownie and cinnamon stick. Light on its feet in terms of structure but the palate delivers plenty of ripe fruits somewhat mirroring the bouquet including of cherry, blackberry, mulberry, dark fig and dark plum. Lingers with baking spices including cinnamon, clove and notes of dark chocolate. The tannins sport a lightly grainy but mostly rounded grip with a lingering drying sensation that broadly coats the palate. If we were to categorize wines into the ‘crowd pleasing’ category, this wine would be a solid choice.

2011 was a vintage that varied greatly in Napa Valley depending on site location. Some of the higher site locations within the valley often produced the most interesting wines from this vintage. This was a cool year in Napa Valley with rain both early and late in the season. The higher elevations tended to perform better because they were usually above the fog line and cooler conditions which persisted on the valley floor.

The 2011 Vineyard 7 & 8 Cabernet Sauvignon, Spring Mountain District is dark garnet and nearly opaque with purplish tinges on the rim; the bouquet is not only about the fruit but features plenty of other aromas including notes of jalapeño pepper, red chili spice, smoked sage, mushroom, wet earth, cigar smoke, old cedar box, white pepper, darker spices and blackberry. We also tried this wine again 13 year post vintage and the nose had developed dried berry fruit aromas and a note of soy sauce. Very polished on the palate, one immediately notices this wine’s supple qualities including its smooth mouth feel and polished tannins which linger softly along with a subtle hint of menthol or herbal note. Still very much a savory showing, and highly representative of this particular vintage in Napa Valley.

The 2013 vintage is a complete contrast to the 2011 vintage and was generally considered a robust year with plenty of accompanying texture in the wines. The 2013 Vineyard 7 & 8 Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby in color; the bouquet shows aromas of ripe blackberry, toasted oak, a tobacco spice, a hint of sage and dark chocolate undertones. Juicy and intensely flavored with excellent acidity, this wine has plenty of depth. More black fruit dominates than red fruits, offering a very long-lasting finish anchored by grainy and persistent tannins.

The first vintage of an extremely limited production proprietary red blend called Block Six was produced in 2018; Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon were planted on some of their steepest hillsides in 2014.

The 2019 Vineyard 7 & 8 Block Six is 38% Cabernet Franc, 38% Petit Verdot and 24% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is deep ruby and opaque with an amaranthine rim. The bouquet sports aromas of ripe plum, boysenberry, Persian mulberry, toasted cedar and a hint of shishito pepper. On the well-layered palate there are flavors of bramble, plum, boysenberry and dried herbs including sage, and bay leaf. The gravelly and grainy tannins are a union of both grape and oak influence and strongly anchor the savory finish. This wine lingers with both fruit and a pronounced woodsy spice and a persistent dusty character on the extended finish. This wine was whole berry fermented in French oak barrels and then aged in 100% new French oak barrels for 28 months.

Correlation Wine Company
This brand was founded by Wesley and focuses on non-estate wines from grapes sourced from select vineyards throughout Napa Valley. Defined as a mutual relationship between two or more things, Correlation appropriately describes the relationships that Wesley has cultivated with various growers, winemakers and vineyard owners over the years. It is also a term used in mathematics to describe the strength of the relationship between to variables to each other. The inaugural release of Correlation included a 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2016 rosé.

Correlation wines is a vintner partner at The Wine Thief in downtown Napa. This tasting room features small production wines from mostly Napa Valley based vintners and is located on the corner of First and McKinstry Streets directly across from Gott’s Roadside Hamburgers and the Oxbow Public Market.

The vintners represented here are small and are usually in the 500 cases to 3,000 cases range. These producers focus on high quality limited production wines and unless you work in the Napa wine industry are names you generally will not have heard of. The focus of the wines offered are Cabernet Sauvignon and red wines but there are several whites available, Pinot Noir and a rosé. The wines are available at a wide range of price points.

To succeed in Napa as a collective strong relationships between vintner partners is a necessary criteria. The vintners represented all know each other and, in some cases, have been friends for years. Another important factor is the location of the tasting room; this is a prime corner spot in a busy part of Napa surrounded by several other tasting rooms. Correlation wines are available for tasting by walk-in at the tasting counter or appointments can also be made to try the current releases in one of the two private rooms on site.

Select Wines
Stagecoach Vineyard is located high on the slopes of Atlas Peak and is known for its Cabernet Sauvignon and other red varieties. One variety, however that it is not known for, is Sauvignon Blanc. So when we have opportunities to try this variety from this vineyard we are always interested in doing so.

The 2022 Correlation Wine Co Stagecoach Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc is medium straw color in the glass. The bouquet smells like spring florals with scents of orange blossom, jasmine along with pineapple guava; a fruit we know extremely well having harvested them every fall for the past 30+ years from bushes growing in the Odd Fellows Lawn Cemetery in Santa Rosa, CA, incidentally the cemetery where Robert Ripley of Ripley’s Believe it or Not is buried. The aromatics also offers notes of lemon zest, lemon drop candy, lime juice and a flinty character. The palate is as balanced as the bouquet, offering mineralities, ripe tangerine, kiwi, passion fruit, grapefruit, pomelo and apple. Its texture is supple and creamy, adding a complementary weight to the richness of fruit and medium acidity.

The 2021 Correlation Wine Co Stagecoach Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc is pale to medium yellow in the glass; the bouquet is a vivid expression of the varietal characteristics, offering scents of lemongrass, citrus blossom, freshly cut grass and a lemon/lime note. This bouquet smells fresh and full of energy. This vivaciousness from the bouquet carries over to the the palate with flavors of lemon, lime and green apple, carried with a liveliness by the bright but not bracing acidity. We immediately thought of pairing this wine with fresh shellfish caught off of the California coastline. This high elevation Sauvignon Blanc is well worth seeking out.

The 2018 Correlation Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is a blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc, primarily from the Atchley Vineyard at about 2,000 feet in elevation on Spring Mountain. It was aged for 26 months in 75% new French oak. This wine is deep ruby in color with an amaranthine rim; its almost opaque in the glass. This wine offers darkly fruited aromas of blackberry, boysenberry and ripe dark cherry with other scents including of tobacco leaf, pencil lead, chocolate, mocha, espresso and cocoa powder. As we spent about 30 minutes with this wine a hint of fennel seemed to come and go in the aromatics. The palate reveals flavors of plum, cherry, black currant and dark plum. This wine lingers savory and gamey with a woodsy spice, crushed peppercorn and grainy broadly distributed but not heavy tannins. This spice filled ‘darkness’ continues to persist for quite some time on the finish and far outpaces the fruit.

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Tours and tastings at Vineyard 7 & 8 are by appointment and are for serious wine enthusiasts. Total production remains very small – typically only 1,000 cases produced annually with a small percentage of the wine distributed in select markets within Asia including China. For more information and to join their mailing list, visit: www.vineyard7and8.com

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