Besides having the word “chateau” in each of their names, what else do the world-famous wineries Chateau Montelena, Chateau Lafite, Chateau Latour, Chateau Mouton, Chateau Margaux, and Chateau Haut Brion have in common? The answer lies in the names themselves. Each represents the specific topographic site, geographical area or man-made landmark which designates the location of the winery and its vineyards.

Throughout the centuries a wine’s origin and the location of its vineyards have carried great importance. The understanding that a vineyard’s site is linked directly to the quality of its wines led to the Bordeaux classification in 1855, in which the properties within the Bordeaux appellation that were historically known to produce superior wines were given special status. The names of the five Bordeaux grands crus now recognized in this classification are each derived from an association to a specific site. Chateau Latour was named after a 14th century tower guarding the local estuary that no longer exists. Chateau Margaux, known in the 12th century as La Mothe de Margaux, was named after a local village. In the case of Chateau Mouton, Chateau Haut Brion, and Chateau Lafite, these three names are each derived from a reference to the raised gravel mounds on which the wineries are located, which have more well-drained soils than the lower, more fertile areas. Thus their names define an attribute of their site which is responsible for their wines’ character.

When California state senator Alfred Tubbs established and built Chateau Montelena in 1882, he christened the winery with this name. In so doing, he created one of the first wineries in California to be named after a specific geographical site or area. In 1972, when the Barrett family purchased the property, in disuse since Prohibition, they chose to keep the winery’s original “place”-name. “Montelena” is a contraction of Mount Saint Helena at whose base the winery and the Montelena Estate Vineyard are located (MOuNTsainthELENA = MONTELENA). Mount Saint Helena is both the Northern Terminus of the Napa Valley as well as its highest point of elevation.

The Montelena Estate Vineyard’s location at the foot of this mountain contributes greatly to its unique growing conditions compared even to nearby properties. The air at the mountain’s summit is significantly cooler than the air at the base because of the mountain’s high elevation, rising to roughly 4,000 feet above the vineyard. At night, this cold air washes down the mountain into the vineyard, bringing some of the lowest nighttime temperatures in the region. When combined with the high daytime temperatures for which Calistoga is known, these exceptionally large daily temperature swings produce grapes with the richness, structure and backbone of natural acidity that make the Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon famously ageworthy.

Millions of years of powerful natural forces created the extraordinary topographic and geologic landscape that is the Montelena Estate Vineyard. Although only approximately 100 acres in size, the Montelena Estate Vineyard boasts a remarkable number of different types of soil. Volcanic uplift created by the collision of the North American and Pacific tectonic plates pushed up Mount Saint Helena to its current heights and also played a role in the vineyard’s soil composition. The Eastern portion of the Montelena Estate Vineyard along the mountain contains volcanic soils as a result of this activity. Subsequently over hundreds of thousands of years, as the ancient sea bed settled and receded over the complex drainages at the base of Mount Saint Helena, alluvial and sedimentary soils were also deposited. The same grape varieties when grown in each of the vineyard’s three soils, volcanic, alluvial, and sedimentary, take on different characteristics which add to the complexity, balance, and distinctiveness of our Estate wines.

When a winery is named after a specific site or area, the interplay of natural elements - geology, climate and culture – or terroir – imbues the grapes with unique qualities, resulting in exceptionally distinctive wines. Great wines come from great grapes, and great grapes come from great terroir. If you’ve ever wondered why one winery’s Cabernet Sauvignon, for example, is far different in flavor and complexity to that of another’s, you may find the answer in the name and location of the wineries themselves.