Welcome to Summer Hill Vineyards

Our Summer Hill Vineyard is located on a narrow lane in the Calistoga Appelation (AVA) of the northern Napa Valley.  The property is flanked by 100-year-old olive trees and a grove of eucalyptus.   We planted two acres of Cabernet Sauvignon in 2001.  The hillside portion of the vineyard covers a southwest-facing slope where it bakes in late-summer afternoons.  The vines grow in a thin layer of topsoil on the hill of volcanic tuff.  The rest of the vineyard is planted in an ancient and rocky alluvial river bed.  Here the soil is very deep, and the roots go down forever.

Our site is water-challenged, as are many of the vineyards in the upper valley.  Careful pruning and canopy management keeps the grapes from getting sunburned.  We limit the crop to get the best from the vines. The combination of rocky soils, southwestern sun exposure, and limited water stresses the vines and allows us to produce fruit with big tannins and intense cabernet character.