My Sincere Thanks to All for a Great 2009 Vintage!

As the 2009 vintage comes to an end, I want to thank everybody that helped make the Atlas Peak wines. It was a lot of hard work, but I think we had a lot of fun along the way, while making some fantastic wines!

Sixteen months ago, in August of 2008 Atlas Peak moved its winemaking operations from our home of 20 years in Napa, to the Buena Vista Carneros winery in Sonoma. It was difficult to leave the place were we made Atlas Peak wines for more than 20 years. However, I believe we made this decision putting quality first and getting an upgrade in winery facility and equipment.

The Buena Vista Carneros winery is a state of the art winemaking facility in the heart of Carneros. The "Open Top" room is lined with small fermenters that are perfectly suited for small lot Cabernet Sauvignon winemaking. In the 2009 vintage we fermented 20 % of our wine in 10-ton fermenters, and 80% of our wine was fermented in 7-ton fermenters or smaller; a luxury that we could have never achieved in the Napa winery.

A special thanks needs to go to the entire winemaking staff at Buena Vista Carneros for their contributions in making the Atlas Peak wines. Jeff (Winemaker for Buena Vista Carneros), Jaeson (Associate Winemaker for both BVC and AP), Sam (Production Manager), and Monica (Production Assistant). And to Nicole who sources amazing grapes from some of the best mountain top Napa Valley vineyards. From these grapes we craft our Napa Valley blend as well as individual bottlings from Mt. Veeder, Spring Mountain District, Howell Mountain, and Atlas Peak.

And finally to Anna (Assistant Winemaker), whom me missed this vintage as she filled in as associate winemaker at Geyser Peak Winery. We all look forward to your return. The vintage was just a little too quiet without you!



There are also many people to thank, so I am going to try to list them all. It is quite a big team that keeps the winery running. The cellar crew is led by Sam, Mario, and Eron. The cellar crew for 2009; Ray, Xochilt, Mario, Kris, Maria, Myra, Scott, Graham, Nick, Lisa, Jualberto, Sonia, Oscar, Rudy, Jose, Juan, Alfonso, and all the international interns, Viorel (Republic of Maldova), Radu (Republic of Maldova), Jon (New Zealand), Rodrigo (Chile). Thanks to Dick, Norm, Luis and Margarito, for keeping the place running. Thanks to Debby for keeping all the records in order and to the sorting crew that stood there hour after hour making sure that every leaf and every piece of stem are removed so that we have only the highest quality of grapes going into each fermenter. And to the lab with Jose, Daniela (Republic of Maldova), and Raj, who kept the lab analysis coming all season.


Cheers,

Darren C. Procsal


Winemaker


Atlas Peak

Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignons garner great press in Wine Enthusiast Magazine!

Atlas Peak rings up three Cabernet Sauvignon's with stellar reviews and 90+ Points from Steve Heimoff and Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

The Atlas Peak 2004 Howell Mountain Cabernet with its "firm tannins, deep and lush flavors ...this beauty should blossom ..."

The Atlas Peak 2004 Spring Mountain Cabernet is called, "Elegant, lush, rich and refined"

And, the Atlas Peak 2004 Napa Valley Cabernet is called, "a beautiful Cabernet ... perfectly ripened fruit ... and balanced"


Congratulations team Atlas Peak on this fantastic endorsement!

The Atlas Peak 2004 Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon Scores Again!

Atlas Peak 2004 Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon scores again! This time in the December issue of Connoisseurs Guide to California Wine.

Charles Olken calls the wine “impressive” as it garners two stars as a “highly distinctive wine” in this influential trade newsletter.

Click here for PDF>> Connoisseurs Guide-Atlas Peak

Congratulations team Atlas Peak!

Atlas Peak Cabernets Score Big in Restaurant Wine!

The Atlas Peak Cabernets WOW Ronn Wiegand! Check out the stellar reviews of the mountain top Cabernets.

The very influential trade pub, Restaurant Wine, is published by Ronn Wiegand, one of a very few who holds both a Master Sommelier and Master of Wine accreditations. He goes on to say “These are very impressive wines!”

The 2004 Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon garners an Exceptional Five Star rating!

Click link for PDF>> Restaurant Wine-Atlas Peak

Congratulations team Atlas Peak!

Atlas Peak - The Cold Soak and the Pump Over

Now that we have the berries in the tank, we would like to pump over about 1/3 of the volume of the tank on day one and 1/3 of the volume of the tank on day two. To do this we will set up a tub below the bottom valve of the tank. Next, open the valve, collect the juice and berries in the bottom of the tub, then pump the mixture over the top and into the tank.
At the top of the tank we will use what is called a pump over device or irrigator to spread the juice and berries evenly over the top. This process will allow us to keep the juice cool and get some nice color extraction as you can see from the picture. At this point there is still no fermentation activity.

We will talk more about fermentation and the conversion of all that sugar that’s produced by the grapes into alcohol in the days to come. For now we will just need to chill out and wait!

Darren Procsal
Winemaker
Atlas Peak

Atlas Peak - Sorting Spring Mountain Cabernet

Today was supposed to be all about winemaking and what goes on in a tank filled with Cabernet Sauvignon. Then I realized that I skipped over how the grapes get in the tank.

All of our grapes that go into making Atlas Peak wines are hand harvested into 1/2-ton macro bins. These are bins that measure 4'x4'x2' and can hold about 1,000 pounds of grape clusters. The bins are then brought to the winery on a flatbed truck soon after being hand harvested in the field. Different than Pinot Noir that is usually harvested during the cool night hours, Cabernet can be harvest during the day. By the time the Cabernet harvest for Atlas Peak begins, fall has arrived, and the nighttime temperature as well as the daytime temperature is cooler. Cooler nighttime temperatures mean cool grapes arriving at the winery.

Once the grapes arrive at the winery they are placed in a hopper and they begin their trip to the de-stemmer where the berries are removed from the stems (hence the name). The de-stemmed Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are then dropped onto a sorting belt where the berries are sorted through by hand to remove any small stem pieces that broke off in the de-stemming process. This ensures that only the whole berries, broken berries, seeds, and juice end up in the tank where the grapes and juice will be transformed into wine. For me the stems are bitter and harsh in flavor. Because we do not want to extract these textures into the wine, we take this extra step to remove as many stem pieces as possible.

On Tuesday we will talk about what happens in the tank next.

Darren Procsal
Winemaker
Atlas Peak

Atlas Peak - Cabernet On Spring Mountain at 1750 ft. Looking North

This morning I started the day in the Spring Mountain District. We source from two vineyards up here. One vineyard sits at 1,750 ft elevation and the other at 1,050 ft. Both of these vineyards have east facing aspects, which means that they have good morning exposure as the sun rises and cooler evenings as the sun sets behind the Mayacamas range and Spring Mountain. Spring Mountain is where the vision for our label materialized. It was an early morning when I set out to walk the vineyards that day. I had arrived before daylight and sat in my truck to watch the sun rise over Atlas Peak. Napa Valley below was fogged in and there I sat above the fog line at the peak of the mountain which is the unique point of difference for our brand. Today you see this image of the mountain above the fog line captured on our label.

Today I started out walking through both Spring Mountain vineyards. As I walked through the vineyard I sampled grapes from many of the vines looking for the mature flavors of Cabernet Sauvignon. For me these flavors include blackberry, blueberry, ripe plum and cherry. Cabernet Sauvignon usually starts out with herbal and green flavor like green beans and bell pepper but as the flavors mature these green characters disappear and move towards more berry and red fruit flavors.

After walking the Spring Mountain District vineyards I decided that the grapes are very close to harvesting. We will pick the block at 1750 ft. on Monday first, and then possibly pick the grapes from the other block on Wednesday. I will be back to walk that vineyard on Monday to make that final call.

Monday we will visit our first wine lot of the year from the Atlas Peak Vineyards, block 65.

Until Monday…

Darren Procsal
Winemaker
Atlas Peak

Atlas Peak - Napa Valley Mountains - 2008 Harvest Update

Atlas Peak — Jan Krupp, Stagecoach Vineyards, “Atlas Peak has benefited from the recent spate of cooler weather. Flavors, anthocyanins and tannin maturity are all catching up with sugar accumulation. The merlot and white grape part of harvest is in full swing. Flavors and balance are great. The merlot crop is light. Only a few blocks of cab have been harvested in the Atlas Peak area. Most of our cab still requires several more weeks of ripening.”


Howell Mountain — Pat Stotesbery, Ladera Vineyards, “The harvest of fits and starts. After all the heat there was this feeling of surprise that is now replaced with a slow but steady picking regime. The normal suspects of zin and merlot are being picked from the top, including some from Sears, Summit Lake and Outpost down and through Ladera where we have actually started into the cabernet. Everyone wants to keep picking but the process is slowing as we approach more cool weather. Waiting for the next surprise.”


Spring Mountain District — Stuart Smith, Smith-Madrone, “Progress of the Spring Mt. harvest is quite varied — as might be expected from a group of strong-minded mountain folk. Some of us have picked most if not all of our merlot and others will be starting soon. Several of us have picked some blocks of cabernet sauvignon and others are still several weeks off. We all agree that the grapes have high acids, low pHs and yet have very good flavors for so early in the season. Whether it is the harvesting of merlot, cabernet franc or even cabernet sauvignon, the cooler weather is allowing all of us to pick the grapes at the peak of maturity — albeit a rather


Mount Veeder — Brian Nuss, Vinoce Vineyards, Over at Wing Canyon they finished picking all their cab on the 13th, two weeks earlier than ‘07 but down 33 percent. The fruit was clean and the bunches full. We picked some cabernet sauvignon again on Tuesday and all the cab in the lower vineyard will be in by the end of the week. The cab franc is still hanging on and hopefully bring it in next week. The upper elevations are still at least a week out. Everyone has been happy with the way things are right now.”

2008 Napa Valley Harvest Report brought to you by the: St. Helena Star

To learn more about the fabulous mountain Cabernets of Atlas Peak, visit: www.atlaspeak.com

Atlas Peak - The Vertical Horizontal Tasting

Winemaker Darren Procsal hosted a very creative wine tasting for the local distributor team to help them fully understand the differences between Mt. Veeder, Spring Mountain, Atlas Peak and Howell Mountain. Imagine 12 wine glasses in front of you...one wine from each mountain appellation...with 3 vintages of each. It allowed the group to taste the differences in the wines across appellations and time. A true delight in exploring tannins! Please pass the steak!

While each wine had its own personality, one can't help but claim a favorite....I'm a Mt. Veeder gal.

What are you?

Atlas Peak - Napa Valley Mountains - 2008 Harvest Update

Atlas Peak — Jan Krupp, Stagecoach Vineyards, “The vines on Atlas Peak endured a second week of temperatures that rose to 100 degrees. Most of them came through undamaged, although a few of the rocky areas lost some leaves. Last week’s heat had the growers of Atlas Peak picking white in earnest and seeing rapid sugar accumulation in some of their reds. The current cool down should slow or stop the brix rise and let the flavors catch up.

Howell Mountain — Pat Stotesbery, Ladera Vineyards, “By the time this is read there will have been a lot of fruit picked on Howell Mountain and across most varietals. Everyone seems surprised by the rush to crush but the weather finally caught up with us and it is off to the races. Picking will have been seen from Outpost and the Dragon vineyard near the top and on down to the 1,400-foot level. Cabernet, zin, petite syrah and merlot and if the weather forecast is correct picking will go through the weekend and beyond. The challenge may be tank space but the fruit and plants all look healthy.”


Spring Mountain District — Stuart Smith, Smith-Madrone, “This week began with a lovely cool respite from last week’s oppressive heat. With the cool weather harvesting has slowed to a crawl. Many of us have brought in small lots of merlot and cabernet sauvignon last week and were fearful of a repeat of the 1984 harvest which, because of the heat, was compressed into a few short weeks. These initial forays into reds seem to confirm the expected short crop. Will the cool weather continue like 2007 or will heat return? With such dry soils can the vines continue to mature their fruit or will they just shut down and collapse? Do we gamble on a few more days or even several weeks for more varietal flavor and risk dehydration and over-ripe raisin-like flavors? Aw, the joys of another harvest.”

Mount Veeder — Brian Nuss, Vinoce Vineyards, “The harvest has started for us. Tuesday we picked some merlot in the lower vineyard. Thursday and Friday we will start on the cabernet sauvignon and finish up on the lower vineyard by the end of next week. The upper elevations are still at least two weeks out depending of course on the weather.”

To learn more about Atlas Peak visit: www.atlaspeak.com

Atlas Peak - 2008 Napa Valley Harvest Update

Atlas Peak — Jan Krupp, Stagecoach Vineyards, “Temperatures in the Atlas Peak Appellation have been hot moving the grapes forward both in terms of Brix and berry ripeness. Harvest of chardonnay and zinfandel should begin in 7-10 days. Most of the berries have sized up considerably in the last four weeks. Cabernet sauvignon yields still appear to be 20 to 30 percent below normal. Other varietals especially non-merlot varietals appear to have normal yields. Merlot blocks are quite variable this year running the gamut from light to normal to heavy.”

Howell Mountain — Pat Stotesbery, Ladera Vineyards, “Other than those areas affected by frost, the crop size is normal or above with small berries and good cluster size. Sauvignon blanc is off at Ladera but no one has yet picked reds. Mark Neal expects to pick eastern slope vineyards next week and he will likely be joined by a few others as we face a solid week of forecasted high temperatures.”

Spring Mountain District — Stuart Smith, Smith-Madrone, “The 2008 harvest on Spring Mt. began in August and most of us anticipate harvest to be finished by the end of September. Another unusual harvest you might think. Hardly. The years 1996, 1997 and 2001 are some recent vintages with similar harvest dates. The whites have good - to very good crop levels, yet most of the mountain is expecting only fair crop levels for the reds. Excellent quality is expected by everyone.”

Mount Veeder — Brian Nuss, Vinoce Vineyards, “Things are looking pretty good up here at the northern end of the appellation. The summer has been up and down weather wise. I think this is one of the best looking crops we have had. The clusters are perfect, tiny berries nice and juicy. The crop does not need much thinning, although we have dropped a few clusters here and there, mostly the merlot. Lagier Meredith say they will be bringing some syrah in 10 to 14 days and their crop is light to moderate. I am estimating harvest starting in two to three weeks for us.”

To learn more about the mountain wines of Atlas Peak, visit: http://www.atlaspeak.com/