Napa Valley
Gandona Winery’s vintner and proprietor Manuel Pires learned about winemaking from his grandfather in the Douro Valley of Portugal. He says, “Inspired by my grandfather’s legacy I became single minded in my need to work the land and more aware that farming was in my blood. I decided the life of a vintner was the right path.”
The first vintage of Gandona was in 2009 and today the winery consists of 17 acres and has Colgin, Chappellet, and David Arthur as neighbors. George Staikos, Gandona Winery’s director of sales, tells Club 672 “Our consulting winemaker is Graeme McDonald. Our consulting winemaker who made the Encosta was Philippe Melka and the winemaker based at the winery is Kyle DuPree.”
Staikos also explains the origin of the name for Gandona Winery 2018 Encosta Cabernet Sauvignon: “Encosta is ‘hillside’ in Portuguese. In our early days, Encosta was considered a ‘second’ wine, drawn from mostly younger plantings, emphasizing youth and freshness. Over time, the wines came to better represent the topographic delineation of the site: Encosta from the flatter, inviting ‘avenues’ area of the vineyard, and the Gandona from the steep, inhospitable ‘terraces’ beside them.”
He continues, “With a north/south row orientation providing some shade to the fruit during the hottest hours of the day, and the increased vine energy from the deeper soils, the avenues do indeed generally produce a slightly brighter, softer wine style, even in their now-adult age, than the terrace blocks next door.” In addition to Cabernet Sauvignon the winemaking team also makes small amounts of Chardonnay and Port style dessert wine. The wines are distributed in 23 states, but consumers can also visit the winery by appointment and carry wine home or purchase it from the winery website.
Gandona Winery – 2018 Encosta Cabernet Sauvignon