A Sanctuary on Mount Veeder
Andrew Cates, the owner of Segassia Vineyard on Mount Veeder said “It’s a Napa Sanctuary.” He was describing how the fog rolls past his vines every morning on its way down the mountain, and how swarms of ladybugs live in the massive redwoods surrounding the land, fighting off pests and watching over the vineyards like little black and red guardian angels.
Segassia Vineyard is perched at 2,200 feet above sea level at the absolute top of Mount Veeder, where the distinctive terroir is a combination of volcanic soils from Sonoma and sandy soils from the San Pablo Bay. The vineyard’s shallow, sloping topsoil provides superior drainage, and its southeast orientation receives the first rays of each morning’s sunrise. Afternoons and evenings are typically ten to fifteen degrees cooler than the valley floor.
Segassia Vineyard produces extraordinary Cabernet Sauvignon fruit. The award-winning wines created from this special vineyard possess ripe and rich black fruit notes, lush and structured with layers of black cherry, crushed violet, lavender, and tobacco. Fruit from this vineyard has been crafted into some of the finest wines in the Napa Valley and has a consistent history of garnering 93+ point scores from critics.
The wines created from Segassia Vineyard’s Cabernet Sauvignon fruit have received critical acclaim each year:
“The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Segassia Vineyard is a racy, super-ripe offering bursting with juicy plums, black cherries, menthol, chocolate, spices, and licorice. It possesses tons of inner sweetness and an extroverted personality. It’s a beauti- fully balanced, striking wine.” – Antonio Galloni, Robert Parker Wine Advocate, December 2011- 96 Points
“The 2007 vintage is an amazingly rich and powerful young Cabernet, with a sense of elegance and finesse. A full-blown wine, with tiers of currant, raspberry, espresso, mocha, mineral and black licorice. For all its power and thrust, this offers an air of refinement and detail.” – James Laube, Wine Spectator, 2010- 95 Points
Cates is a man with a passion for land and conservation.
He fell in love with the region and knew immediately that Mount Veeder’s lush, green micro-climate had the fantastic potential to produce rich wines with dark fruit flavors that have brought prominence to the appellation. After purchasing Segassia Vineyard in 2012, Cates was able to learn firsthand from his vineyard manager how to produce the best fruit possible for wine.
“My grandfather was an organic farmer in North Georgia in the 1940s, and at a young age, he instilled in me the beauty of growing things, creating.”
With his conservationist leanings, ancestry rooted in the love of farming the land, and his tenacious focus on producing the highest quality fruit, it’s a good bet that Segassia Vineyard will continue to produce stunning fruit and be a sanctuary for generations to come.
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Article By: Layne Randolph
