Vineyards

The Generosity of Nature

 

Helms Vineyard

Located adjacent to the historic DANA winery at the base of the Mayacamas Mountains, Helms Vineyard is an 8-acre site on the western side of the Rutherford AVA. The site’s deep soils include abundant riverbed gravel with decomposed remnants of an ancient seabed. Fruit from this site is richly perfumed, with beautiful plummy fruit and heady aromatics. Dusty cocoa-powder tannins have a natural softness and viscosity that lend elegant volume to the wines. Cabernet Sauvignon from Helms Vineyard is DANA Estates’ most classically styled bottling, evoking the old world wines that inspired our project.

Lotus Vineyard

This rocky, five-acre vineyard is located on the eastern hillside of Napa Valley, just below Howell Mountain, within the newly designated Crystal Springs appellation. With virtually no topsoil, Lotus Vineyard compels the vines to root deep into the iron-rich, fractured bedrock, yielding concentrated fruit with extraordinary power, breadth and length. The vineyard’s diverse terrain, ranging from southwest-facing to north-facing slopes with gradients as steep as 45 degrees, allows for maximum unobstructed hours in the sun, producing DANA’s most powerful fruit. The terroir produces a wonderful complexity of aromas, introducing spice, graphite, and chocolate to the muscular black fruit as the wine blooms on the palate. A perennial critic’s favorite, Lotus Vineyard is DANA’s most robust Cabernet Sauvignon.

Hershey Vineyard

Hershey Vineyard is DANA’s largest and most diverse vineyard site, planted to both red and white grapes. This 35-acre vineyard perches 1800 feet above sea level in the Howell Mountain AVA, where the soils include varying combinations of fractured bedrock, gravel, compressed ash boulders, clay, and white dust. The site’s diversity requires block-specific farming; pick dates are typically four weeks apart for red grapes. Fermented in single barrels to preserve each lot’s unique personality, Hershey Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon offers elegant, linear structure with intriguing savory and mineral notes, and a layered complexity especially beloved by sommeliers.

Montagna Vineyard

Regarded as one of Napa Valley’s most premium and exclusive terroirs, Montagna Vineyard sits 1,300 feet above the valley floor on Pritchard Hill. The terrain is steep and rocky, with red soils rich in volcanic ash and alluvial deposits, providing excellent drainage with limited water retention. Vines are forced to struggle, resulting in smaller yields and more concentrated fruit. Montagna’s elevation allows for a large diurnal temperature variation, preserving acidity and energy within the wine. The unique combination of ideal growing conditions, rugged terrain, and volcanic soils, creates a wine with power, structure, and intense complexity. Adding this prestigious vineyard to our portfolio showcases DANA Estates dedication to creating meticulously balanced wines in Napa Valley’s most distinguished and diverse terroirs.