Clos Pegase Vineyards

Clos Pegase Winery

Vineyards

Clos Pegase owns more than 450 acres of land in the Napa Valley, with 286 planted to grapes. About a third of the grapes produced are sold to fellow vintners and the remainder is used for the estate wines produced by Clos Pegase. The four vineyard sites are located in three distinct areas, ranging from the base of Mount St. Helena to the San Pablo Bay in Carneros.

Dunaweal Vineyard

Dunaweal Vineyard, located directly across from the winery, was purchased along with the winery site in 1983. After removing poorly performing Sauvignon Blanc vines and conducting extensive soil and drainage preparations, the site became the winerys first plantings of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc in 1992. In 1998 the plantings expanded to include additional acreage of Cabernet Franc as well as other varieties. The soil is a deep Bale Loam, ranging to gravelly, sandy loam in some sections.

Location: 1077 Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga, California

Appellation: Calistoga/Napa ValleyAcres: 26.5

Plantings: 5 acres Petit Verdot, 3.7 acres Cabernet Franc, 1.8 acres Petite Sirah, 3.6 acres Zinfandel and 1 acre Syrah

Applebone Vineyard (Site of Clos Pegase Winery)

Adjacent to the winery, this site underwent soil preparation and grading in 2000, and new rootstocks were planted in 2001, then budded to Cabernet Sauvignon in 2002. The soil is virtually identical to the Dunaweal Vineyard, so to tame the natural vigor of Cabernet Sauvignon when combined with this fertility, the vineyard was planted with 4-by-4 spacing. This forces the vines to compete with each other, and thus balances their growth.

Location: 1060 Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga, California

Appellation: Calistoga/Napa Valley

Acres: 20.4

Plantings: 4 acres Cabernet Sauvignon

Tenma Vineyard

A ruggedly austere horizontal hillside, this alluvial fan spills out of the Palisades range in the northeastern corner of the Napa Valley. Its the warmest area of Calistoga in the summer, receiving the least amount of fog, but also the coolest Napa Valley region in the winter, receiving 50 percent more rain (36 inches versus 24 inches) than other, more southerly parts of Napa Valley. Here the stony terrain produces some of the finest Cabernet grapes in the valley. The poor soil, dry and deeply drained, yields a meager but exquisitely concentrated crop of Cabernet Sauvignon, providing the fine aromatics and plumy-ripe fruit of the Clos Pegase Cabernet blends.

Purchased in 1989, the vineyard was originally planted to 13.5 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and small amounts of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petite Sirah. From 1989 to 1991, the Cabernet Sauvignon plantings were expanded to eventually reach 35 acres. Traditionally dry-farmed, in 2006 nearly six acres were sacrificed to create a reservoir to maintain the appropriate moisture and water levels for the vines throughout the growing season.

Location: 3106 Palisades Road, Calistoga, California

Appellation: Calistoga/Napa Valley

Acres: 41.7

Plantings: 29.49 acres Cabernet Sauvignon

Mitsuko's Vineyard

Purchased in 1989 as bare pasture, the propertys planting began in 1991. With a diverse range of soil types, elevations and microclimates, different areas were initially selected to specialize in Chardonnay and Merlot. A pilot planting of Pinot Noir proved very successful, and over the years Pinot planting has expanded. Additionally there are small areas of Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Malbec.

Location: 4179 Withers Road, Carneros, California

Appellation: Carneros/Napa Valley

Acres: 365.1

Plantings: 125.6 acres Chardonnay, 48.4 acres Merlot, 22.5 acres Pinot Noir, 11.1 acres Cabernet Sauvignon, 11.8 acres Sauvignon Blanc, 3.1 acres Cabernet Franc, 2.1 acres Syrah, 3.73 acres Malbec

Graveyard Hill

There arent many Cabernet grapes grown in Carneros, but those that are share a few common traits in elevation and soil types. Carneros was originally a seabed, and as such is primarily covered with a 3-foot deep layer of heavy, clay soil. It is the outcrops and higher hills that provide the interesting sites, however. When this vineyard was purchased, the previous owner, a dairy farmer, took pains to point out his favorite parcel: a small hill within the vineyard that, when plowed, turned up chunks of limestone. Over the years he had come to name the site Graveyard Hill for the foreboding appearance post-plowing. Further examination revealed a 10-foot-deep, well-drained soil layer covering the hill and so Cabernet was selected for the site. Because the site is well-drained, it allows the soil to warm up earlier in the spring, giving budbreak a head start and provides just enough time to ripen a super-concentrated crop in the full growing season.

Location: Carneros, California (located within Mitsukos Vineyard)