A new addition has been made to our family of Napa Valley Estate Vineyards. Purchased in the fall of 2005, the Cork Tree Vineyard fulfills our longstanding desire to own a quality Merlot vineyard in the southern, cooler part of the Napa Valley appellation. Having purchased fruit from this distinguished area for many years, we have always recognized its potential for producing outstanding Merlot as well as other Bordeaux varietals. From vintage to vintage, the grapes from this unique region have left their fingerprint on our Napa Valley wines, adding supple depth and a distinct flavor profile. The vineyard is located on the rolling slopes of the eastern foothills, northwest of the city of Napa. This particular parcel met all the criteria for an ideal Estate Grown Merlot vineyard: great soil with good drainage and depth, a western hillside exposure, and a location in a desired winegrowing area.

The Cork Tree Vineyard consists of 20 total acres with 13 planted to Merlot, one to Petit Verdot and one to Cabernet Franc. Director of Napa Valley vineyard operations, Jeff Roberts is excited to integrate this site into our Estate portfolio. Jeff believes "the grapes will add tremendous complexity, softness and depth to the palette of flavors from which we craft our Napa Valley and Estate Grown Merlots. Cork Tree will provide beautiful, sweet black fruit elements that contrast the bright red fruit flavors of our vineyards up valley." Jeff has chosen the experienced José Luis Hurtado from our in-house farming team to oversee the day-to-day operations at Cork Tree Vineyard.

As with all new properties, this ranch will require a lot of work in order to realize the site's full potential. Cork Tree's upper vineyard block consists of 10.6 acres that were planted on AxR1 rootstock. Once thought to be resistant to Phylloxera, an insect that feeds on the roots of grapevines, the rootstock's resistance has weakened. To ensure the quality of Cork Tree's fruit for years to come, we are carefully planning its replanting. In the meantime, if it meets our exacting quality standards, we will continue to harvest fruit from this section for the next two vintages before implementing a redevelopment plan after the 2007 harvest. Cork Tree's lower vineyard block consists of 4.4 acres that were planted on the Phylloxera-resistant 5C rootstock. This mature section will provide us with the foundation of Merlot from the Cork Tree Vineyard well into the next decade.

While replanting a portion of the Cork Tree site will be labor and capital intensive, it allows us the opportunity to utilize resistant rootstocks, select clones specifically chosen to match the site's growing conditions, change the row direction, and increase vine density by 40 percent.

Cork Tree Vineyard is named for the prominent Cork Oak that grows majestically among the vines. One of only a few of its kind in the Napa Valley, this amazing specimen is estimated to be over 75 years old. How the tree got to this site is unknown; Cork Oak is native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa. Commercially, the thick, rugged and corky bark is harvested every 10-12 years and gradually a new layer of cork re-grows, making it a renewable resource. The European cork industry produces 340,000 tons of cork a year, with wine corks representing 15 percent of cork usage by weight but 66 percent of the revenues. While our cork tree will never be harvested, its presence in the vineyard brings a sense of connection from the vines to the bottled wine. We plan to plant more Cork Oak trees at this beautiful location to preserve that connection for vintages to come.