Pride Mountain Vineyards - Winery Review
One of the joys of working within the wine industry is continually finding wineries with both interesting histories and people, while making outstanding world class wine.
One such winery from Northern California is Pride Mountain Vineyards.
Perched on Spring Mountain Pride is perhaps the only winery able to claim both Napa and Sonoma county on its labels.
After prohibition both counties sought to create their own identities and with Pride situated on the county line they have been forced to create separate facilities on both sides of the county line: it truly is one ranch and two counties as they often remind visitors.
This continual county versus county interaction on Spring Mountain has, over the years, affected more then just the winery: at one point a small schoolhouse was built on wheels so it could be pushed from one county to the other depending on funding and their economic situation.
As you can expect these types of idiosyncrasies can affected the wine and the winemakers that are attracted to the mountain in profound ways.
To start the vines sit at around 2,000 feet above sea level which is one of the highest farmed elevations in the western United States.
This creates smaller clusters and more intense fruit, despite the fact that the vines are above the fog line which gives them direct sunlight from dawn to dusk.
An interesting aspect of this mountain vineyard is that it has generally cooler temperatures then the rest of the Napa AVA, which helps to keep acidity in the fruit under control.
Combine these generally cooler, consistent temperatures with a combination of volcanic and sea bed soils and Spring Mountain(Pride in peculiar) gives rise to an interest set of flavors within their different varietals.
They keep a close eye to farm with sustainable practices as well, which allow the vines to live a full life expectancy.
Vines as they age typically produce smaller, more intense fruit which is why a number of large wineries do not allow their vines to age.
The last interesting feature that allows Pride the opportunity to create truly historic wine is the caves which are present on the property.
Pride was able to dig their own caves around the year 2000 and it has given them ideal conditions to age and cellar their wine.
Both humidity and temperature are naturally controlled in these caves.
Lastly, no article about Pride would be complete without talking about the wine itself.
Some highlights of the Pride collection include their 2006 Merlot ranked as the best Merlot at any price by Food and Wine Magazine.
Lastly if you're looking for the best Pride has to offer, no tasting would be complete without tasting their Cabernet Sauvignon which boasts one of the most impressive combinations of soft tannins and ripe fruit that you can find anywhere.
We hope you've enjoyed this winery review and will find us at Uncorked Ventures.
One such winery from Northern California is Pride Mountain Vineyards.
Perched on Spring Mountain Pride is perhaps the only winery able to claim both Napa and Sonoma county on its labels.
After prohibition both counties sought to create their own identities and with Pride situated on the county line they have been forced to create separate facilities on both sides of the county line: it truly is one ranch and two counties as they often remind visitors.
This continual county versus county interaction on Spring Mountain has, over the years, affected more then just the winery: at one point a small schoolhouse was built on wheels so it could be pushed from one county to the other depending on funding and their economic situation.
As you can expect these types of idiosyncrasies can affected the wine and the winemakers that are attracted to the mountain in profound ways.
To start the vines sit at around 2,000 feet above sea level which is one of the highest farmed elevations in the western United States.
This creates smaller clusters and more intense fruit, despite the fact that the vines are above the fog line which gives them direct sunlight from dawn to dusk.
An interesting aspect of this mountain vineyard is that it has generally cooler temperatures then the rest of the Napa AVA, which helps to keep acidity in the fruit under control.
Combine these generally cooler, consistent temperatures with a combination of volcanic and sea bed soils and Spring Mountain(Pride in peculiar) gives rise to an interest set of flavors within their different varietals.
They keep a close eye to farm with sustainable practices as well, which allow the vines to live a full life expectancy.
Vines as they age typically produce smaller, more intense fruit which is why a number of large wineries do not allow their vines to age.
The last interesting feature that allows Pride the opportunity to create truly historic wine is the caves which are present on the property.
Pride was able to dig their own caves around the year 2000 and it has given them ideal conditions to age and cellar their wine.
Both humidity and temperature are naturally controlled in these caves.
Lastly, no article about Pride would be complete without talking about the wine itself.
Some highlights of the Pride collection include their 2006 Merlot ranked as the best Merlot at any price by Food and Wine Magazine.
Lastly if you're looking for the best Pride has to offer, no tasting would be complete without tasting their Cabernet Sauvignon which boasts one of the most impressive combinations of soft tannins and ripe fruit that you can find anywhere.
We hope you've enjoyed this winery review and will find us at Uncorked Ventures.
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