The Site
"Little Creek" Vineyard is a 3-acre parcel of Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon surrounding the Soter home in Napa. This area is part of a proposed AVA called Tulocay, a horseshoe-shaped valley to the east of the city of Napa. Tulocay was a word used to describe the Native American inhabitants of a village in this small valley, and today it describes a viticultural zone, distinct from its neighbors in Napa County in a number of important ways.

The Terroir
Like its neighbor to the south, Carneros, Tulocay benefits from the cooling breezes drawn in through the Golden Gate; however, here the morning fog burns off much sooner, and cool breezes sweep through the vineyard on late summer afternoons, which slows ripening and encourages flavor development in the grapes. This microclimate is distinct from the valley floor and mountain appellations of the Napa Valley. The soils are well-drained, stony loams that are essentially weathered volcanic materials, washed down the valley over millennia. This Cabernet Franc vineyard was planted in 1993, on low-vigor rootstocks. Today it is entering its prime years of production.

Vinification
Cropped for miniscule yields (approximately 1.1 tons per acre), the fruit is harvested when completely ripe, and along with the Cabernet Sauvignon and delightfully exotic Malbec, is destemmed and transported in a refrigerated truck to the Soter winery, east of Carlton, OR. Here the grapes are treated just like Pinot Noir, and are given the same long cold soak, gentle fermentation, and post-fermentation maceration. A portion of the wine is raised in new French oak from the finest Burgundian coopers. Only a very tiny amount of this wine is made - about 250 cases per year for the world, and it is available primarily on a retail basis, through our winery.

The Wine
The wine carries all of Cabernet Franc's signature plushness, a grape whose wines Rabelais once compared to taffeta. Billowing from the glass come savory, meaty aromas, plus coffee beans, new leather, hints of milk chocolate, and those inimitable cedary, spice-box scents that make Cabernet Franc so compelling. Black fruits, fascinatingly exotic floral aromas, and structure all come from the Malbec, which makes this blend like no other in the world. The wine is very expressive, with notes of blood oranges, cherries, cassis, and raspberries. The palate typically has a core of supple tannin that suggests in most vintages, the wine will improve for 8-12 years.

Here is a Bordelais blend with its own unique signature, poised to stand among the finest produced in Napa Valley. It will pair beautifully with dishes like grilled lamb plugged with garlic and rosemary, barbecued porterhouse, and with assertive blue cheeses like mountain gorgonzola.

Tasting Notes and Facts
2003 Little Creek Cabernet Franc
2002 Little Creek Cabernet Franc