2022 Scout's Honor Proprietary Red
2022 SCOUT’S HONOR PROPRIETARY RED
69% Napa Valley | 31% Sonoma County
ZINFANDEL………….Seventy-One Percent
CHARBONO……………...Nineteen Percent
PETITE SIRAH……………..Eight Percent
SYRAH………………………...Two Percent
THE VINEYARD(S): Signal Fire Vineyard, Venge’s Calistoga Estate, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 70+ Years) Frediani Vineyards, Calistoga, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 100+ Years) Luvisi Vineyard, Calistoga, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 100+ Years) Moss Creek Vineyard, Capell Valley, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 50+ Years) Korte Ranch Vineyard, Saint Helena, Napa Valley (Old Vines |70+ Years) Monte Rosso Vineyard, Moon Mountain, Sonoma County (Old Vines |100+ Years) Grist Vineyard, Bradford Mountain, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County (Old Vines | 50+ Years) Kick Ranch Vineyard, Rincon Valley, Fountain Grove, Sonoma County
WINEMAKER’S Record
Our Scout’s Honor blend is based on a tradition of producing a full bodied and delicious red wine that is ready to consume upon release. We start with a base of old-vine Zinfandel and build upon that with old-vine Charbono, dryfarmed Petite Sirah, and finish with mountain Syrah. Full-bodied, concentrated, and gorgeous, with a balance of full-bodied tannins and jammy, ripe black fruits, sweet currants, pepper spice, and mouthwatering deliciousness.
PRODUCTION Essentials
Method | Hand Picked and Destemmed Via Pellenc Sorting System, Gravity Flow to Stainless and Open Top Fermenters, Utilizing 100% Native Yeast Primary and Secondary Fermentations Over 12 Days, Diaphragm Air Pumps (Forced Air Pressure)—Bulldogging—and Transfers Via Gravity Only, Gentle Barrel-To-Tank Racking
Aging Regimen | 65% New American Oak, 35% Used French.
Production: 12,000 Cases | 9,000 Cases Allocated Nationally
The move to a dual AVA listing on this wine has opened our ability to continue to produce a high-quality red blend without realizing a significant decrease in production on this historic and popular wine. In Napa Valley, old-vine vineyards are becoming very scarce commodities as they are being replanted to Bordeaux varieties or purchased by competing interests. As we considered our options, we reflected upon our success with Sonoma County fruit at our sister winery, in Russian River Valley, where delicious, old-vine crops are abundant and provide a unique lift in complex freshness and concentrated flavors. The resulting shift in production has resulted in a wine that is complex and delicious!
DEDICATION First produced in 1996, this wine is dedicated in memory of our beloved, yellow Labrador Retriever, Scout. We immediately recognized that he was an exceptional Lab when we first met him in 1989 at the Napa County Animal Adoption Center. Rescuing Scout proved to be a destined decision! He was a loyal and loving companion who helped us welcome visitors to our winery for seven memorable years.
THE VINEYARD(S): We are fortunate to source fruit from vineyards that are managed by families who have been farming for over 100 years and who own and work the vineyards themselves; because it all begins in the vineyard . Signal Fire Vineyard, Venge’s Calistoga Estate, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 70+ Years) Located in the northern most reaches of Calistoga, near Chateau Montelena, our Signal Fire Vineyard is a testament to Napa Valley history. At the turn of the century, this vineyard location was known as the “signal point” for early Spring frost warnings—if the smudge pots were billowing on this site, all vineyard owners in the surrounding area would know to fire their frost pots to protect their bounty. The vines here are well established and dry farmed, with an average vine age of 70 years. Frediani Vineyards, Calistoga, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 100+ Years) The Frediani Vineyard is a museum of old vines and long-forgotten Napa Valley varieties. Smack dab in the middle of the valley floor, these vines sit in rocky gravel and bale clay loam soil and experience brutally hot days and chilly nights. This variance in temperature produces incredible lush, intense fruit. These unique conditions, in the hands of somebody like Jim Frediani, are the recipe for masterpiece after masterpiece. In a day and age where most heritage vineyards in Napa Valley are being ripped out and replaced with more profitable Cabernet Sauvignon, the Frediani Vineyard remains a place of refuge. Luvisi Vineyard, Calistoga, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 100+ Years) Right next door to Frediani Vineyards, is Luvisi Vineyards owned by brothers Don and Clarence Luvisi. Along with their first cousin, Jim Frediani, they grew up working their grandfather’s vineyard. The Luvisi ancestors bought the land in the late 1800s and the Zinfandel vines, some of the oldest in the valley, were planted in 1908. The vineyard is head trained and dry farmed and sits on a gentle, south-facing loam alluvium of Pleasanton gravel. Moss Creek Vineyard, Capell Valley, Napa Valley (Old Vines | 50+ Years) The Moskowite family has been farming here for over 90 years, with 185 acres of vineyards planted since 1974. Located in Capell Valley, a small mountain valley located in the Napa Valley hills directly east of Oakville, nestled against Atlas Peak, the vineyard ranges in elevation from 835 to 900 feet. These 42 vineyards are planted in a well-drained, loam soil that is riddled with rock and obsidian. The vineyard maturity, soil types and estate farming practices combine to produce exceptional low yielding fruit. The cooler climate provided by the mountain elevation brings on a longer growing season. Therefore, the grapes have an extended hang time on the vine, allowing the sugars to ripen slowly prior to harvest. This produces outstanding mature fruit, adding character and rich complexity to the wine. Korte Ranch Vineyard, Saint Helena, Napa Valley (Old Vines |70+ Years) Korte Ranch is located just north of the town of St. Helena along the Napa River on Ehlers Lane. It is truly one of the most distinctive and classic Zinfandel vineyards left in Napa Valley with the vines we source from being a minimum of 70 years old. It has been family owned for four generations and was a bonded winery before prohibition. The gnarly old head trained, dry farmed vines are planted where the eastern and western hillsides meet. This beautiful property is perfectly suited for high quality grape growing from the cool morning and nighttime temperatures to the loose soils of rocky loam which help make wine of unique and bold character. Monte Rosso Vineyard, Moon Mountain, Sonoma County (Old Vines |100+ Years) Emanuel Goldstein and his business partner Benjamin Dreyfus were business partners in San Francisco in the early 1880s when they decided to move out to Sonoma Valley and begin cultivating and planting Monte Rosso (red earth) Vineyard. The first vines were planted in 1886, with some of the original Zinfandel planted during that period still producing fruit today. Prohibition had taken its toll on the family and the family made the decision to sell to Louis M. Martini in 1938, who had his namesake winery located in St. Helena. Three generations of the Martini Family continued to farm the vineyard up until 2002 when the vineyard and Louis M. Martini winery was sold to E.&J. Gallo Vineyards. The site historically produces wines of high acidity across all varieties due to the volcanic influence and minerality in the homogenous Red Hill Loam soil, the southern facing aspect of the vineyard, and the elevation. Grist Vineyard, Bradford Mountain, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County (Old Vines | 50+ Years) Grist Vineyard is located about 5 miles northwest of Healdsburg, California, nestled in the hilltops about 1000 ft above sea level, near the top of Bradford Mountain in the Dry Creek Valley American Viticultural Area. The 200+ acre property includes 70 acres planted mostly with Zinfandel and Syrah, but also smaller blocks of Petite Sirah, Sauvignon Blanc, and Viognier grapes. The property has been in the family since the late 1970s, In addition to vineyards, the property includes two family homes, two barns, two chicken coops, an orchid greenhouse, a fruit orchard, avocado trees, olive trees, fifty Meyer lemon trees, beehives, and a pig pen. This is pure, Sonoma County dirt. Kick Ranch Vineyard, Rincon Valley, Fountain Grove, Sonoma County The existing ranch and vineyard was established in 1858 with all being lost once prohibition set in. Kick Ranch Vineyard, now owned by Dick Keenan and Kathy McNamara, is a hillside vineyard located in northeast Santa Rosa’s Rincon Valley. Its soil is Pleasanton-Haire complex that has been deposited in an alluvial fan surrounding natural runoff from the Mayacama Mountains. Fantastic drainage has forced the plants to dig deep roots, naturally balancing the vines with low yields and concentrated fruit. With a straight shot through the Petaluma wind gap, the cool maritime breezes balance the intense afternoon exposure. This results in dark, ripe fruit with killer acidity.