Pale straw color; melon, peach, kiwi, green apple, key lime, ruby red grapefruit, wildflowers on the nose and palate.
Dry; nice, palate cleansing acidity; light-plus body. Smooth, slight oiliness in the texture. Touch of the riesling sweetness from ripe fruit, but this is a dry wine. Long finish. Food friendly. Elegant. 12% ABV
Trefethen is foundational Napa Valley royalty. Built in 1886, in Napa’s first golden age. The fully restored winery is the only 19th century, wooden, three-level, gravity-flow winery in the valley. The Goodman Brothers commissioned the winery across the street from the Oak Knoll train station. It was designed and built by Captain Hamden McIntyre, who also built Inglenook, Far Niente, Greystone, Beaulieu, Chateau Montelena, Frog’s Leap and others. First named Eshcol, it is considered McIntyre’s greatest work in wood.
The winery quickly faced phylloxera headwinds. There were more than 20,000 acres of Napa vines in 1890. By 1900, there were, maybe, 3,000. James Fawver took over property management. In 1904, he purchased it. By then, Eshcol virtually was the only active vineyard/winery between Carneros and Yountville. With new, phylloxera-resistant plantings, the wine operation was successful until the idiocy of Prohibition in 1919. Wounded, but not slain, the winery soldiered on as a grape farm, making grape bricks that people could turn into wine if they carefully followed instructions on what they were not supposed to do with the grape brick.
Prohibition ended in 1933, and Eshcol went back into wine production. Fawver died in 1940 and his widow leased the Eshcol property to Beringer, who principally made sweet dessert wines. Eugene and Catherine Trefethen came to Napa in 1968. There were fewer than 30 operating wineries at the time. The Eshcol facility was in disrepair. That was a mere piffle to Eugene. He had just ended an historic career at the top of the Kaiser Corporation where he successful met challenges ranging from production of Liberty ships and Willys Jeeps for World War II, to the construction of the Bay Bridge and Hover Dam, and the development of Kaiser Permanente to provide health care for millions.
Trefethen’s purchase of the Eshcol estate was conditioned on passage of legislation establishing the first protected area for agriculture in America: the Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve. Catherine planted a magnificent garden in the middle of the estate which still provides produce and flowers for the operation today. From the beginning, Trefethen insisted on sustainable farming and estate-grown wines, not common in 1968.
The Trefethen’s son, John, and his wife, Janet, are co-founders of today’s operation. They became central figures in the rise of Napa wine. John was the founding president of the Napa Valley Growers and later Napa Valley Vintners. Janet hosted the Napa Valley Cooking Class for 25 years and was major force in the establishment of the Oak Knoll District.
Today, John and Janet have turned over active management to their children, Lorenzo and Hailey. Jon Ruel is the CEO. Bryan Kays is the winemaker. Brendan Brambila is the director of viticulture. The winery has a long-established commitment to philanthropy. Good wine. Good people.
Trefethen Family Vineyards Estate Grown Dry Riesling, Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley 2022 is sleek, crisp with delicate aromatics and hint of ripe fruit sweetness. It has been a feature in the Trefethen offerings since 1974. Riesling is somewhat a rarity in Napa, and this is perennially well done. Ideal as an aperitif or sipped well-chilled solo on a hot day. Pair with light fare; seafood—light fish, shellfish, boiled shrimp, oysters; garden salad, summer salad; light pork; light chicken; spicy food; cured meats. Cheese—camembert, brie, comté, emmental, aged gouda, munster, chèvre, gorgonzola, stilton. $22-28
Trefethen Family Vineyards website
