Welcome to SchoolHouseVineyard.com
On the left are links that take you to the various sections of information, an order form, an eMail link to contact us,
and a map with directions to the vineyard.
Below we start with our story.
We hope you enjoy the web site and call for an appointment to visit us in person.
Story - School House Vineyard, Spring Mountain, Napa Valley, California
The School House Vineyard is nestled among the cool, lush forested slopes of
Spring Mountain above St. Helena, where Langtry and Spring Mountain Roads intersect,
at an elevation of approximately 1500 feet. The vineyard takes its name from
the 1890s one-room school house which graced the property until it was consumed by
fire in the mid 1980s. The School House has lent its name to this fascinating
and unique vineyard property which has quietly produced very small quantities of
some of the most sought after Napa Valley wines since the mid-1950s. Steeped
in Napa Valley history, School House is the ultimate cult wine producer,
cult before cult was cool!
History - The Vineyard and the Wines
The original vines of which a few still produce red wine were planted in1890s.
This block was the classic mixed-black field blend, a very common vineyard planting
technique of the times. Interplanted were Zinfandel, Carignane, Petite Sirah,
Alicante Bouchet and Grand Noir, and several other varieties which were picked
together and vinified into deep dark red table wine. Today, a few of the
120-year-old vines commingle with younger vines as the field blend has been
re-propagated to produce School House Mescolanza Mescolanza being a
Spanish term for medley or harmony.
In the 1940s, Andre Tchelistcheff made one of his most significant contributions
to the California wine industry when he encouraged local growers to propagate
the Cabernet Sauvignon variety. He instructed John Daniel, owner of the
famous Inglenook Estate, to replace his Pinot Noir vineyard in Rutherford with
Cabernet which he felt was better suited to that growing region. Having
brought the Pinot Noir bud wood from Burgundy’s Domaine de Romanee Conti,
Daniel gave his close friend, John O. Gantner Pinot Noir bud wood which was
used to propagate Gantner’s Pinot Noir Vineyard and planted in 1953. Thus,
in 1957, the noble Pinot Noir variety from its most regal heritage began a its
history of small production of very high quality wines, the School House
Pinot Noir.
The
Chardonnay grape
was introduced to the School House vineyard in the late 1960s. Fred McCrea
of Stony Hill vineyard, provided bud wood for John Gantner in 1968 and extremely
tiny production of tightly knit wine has been produced in the years that followed,
many vintages producing only a few cases.
The People
Today, the second generation, John M. Gantner and
Nancy Walker tackle all of the vineyard operations
at the School House Vineyard where they make their home. John and Nancy
implement the dry-farming technique in order to intensify the character of the
wines sacrificing quantity in order to maximize quality. Their passion
for the grapes they nurture coupled with their strong connection with the land
is beautifully revealed in the expressions of the wines produced from the
vineyard. Each of the School House wines is vinified in the caves
of neighboring Pride Mountain Vineyards under the watchful eye of Winemaker
Bob Foley, and his passionate assistant,
Romel Rivera.
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The 2004 Vintage
The 2004 growing season we received 44.9 inches of rain, more than 10 inches
less than for 2003; March and April, gave only 3.2 inches of rain. The light
and early spring rain and the fact that the vines are not irrigated caused a
light crop. Water stressed vines and high quality fruit. Quality, not quantity,
(some years we are blessed with both, but in 2004 we lack quantity).
Bud-break, flowering, and set was all early by 2 to 3 weeks over past years.
Spring was warm and mild, and these mild to warm temperatures continued throughout
the summer. For example we had very little fog in June, which is rare. The only
negative weather was an extreme hot spell in late August which caused more
raisining than normal.
Chardonnay production is down this year from 2004, only 30 cases produced so it
is going to be VERY tightly allocated. Only one ton of Chardonnay was picked on
September11th at 28° Brix. Thus the 2005 Chardonnay can only be sold in conjunction
with the purchase of either, or both, our Pinot Noir or Mescolanza. The 2004 Pinot
Noir we think compares with the 1998 Pinot which is one of our favorites. This 2004
Pinot is aromatic and Burgundian, feminine and rich; continuing the tradition of
School House Pinot Noir. We picked only 2.5 tons of Pinot Noir on September 9th at
25° Brix.
The 2004 Mescolanza has the tangy fruit we have come to expect from this field blend
of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Carignane, but this vintage is exceptionally rich and
sensuous. We picked a little over 3 tons of Mescolanza fruit on October 15th at about
28° Brix. Nancy fell in love with this wine the minute we opened a bottle, “just to
see how it was doing” in late November 2007.
As is usually the case, we believe the Pinot Noir and the Mescolanza will age well;
the intensity of the flavors and well-balanced acid promise good drinking for many
years. We do encourage you to set aside some portion of your order for aging at least,
4 to 10 years. If you have the patience and proper storage area you will be more than
pleasantly surprised. We hope you will pay particular attention to the back labels on
all three of these wines. You can now easily learn what Mescolanza means, and some
general history of our wine production.
We also want to repeat our now standard disclaimer: We are aware of the absurdity of
saying every vintage “this is the best yet,” each is different, and we have never
released a wine that we did not ourselves find delicious. Each vintage though, as you
know, reflects the myriad of factors effecting the vineyard’s soils, weather, and
general environment. We consider ourselves very fortunate that each vintage contains
the consistent attributes of the School House terroir. So, we can say with confidence
and pride: we think you will love these wines.
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2004 School House Pinot Noir
SOLD OUT!
Since the first vintage of School House Pinot Noir was produced in1957, our feminine,
Burgundian style wine has proved that the combination of the 1500 foot vineyard
elevation, the cooler microclimate of the School House Vineyard, our fertile and
well drained mountain soils, along with our decision to continue dry-farming
(not irrigating) the vineyards combines to provide ideal growing conditions for
the evolution of these noble Pinot Noir vines. This small crop (under a ton per acre)
was fermented in open-top bins after a light pressing to separate the stems from the
fruit. The dry, young wine matured in new French Oak cooperage, and after 18 months
was hand-bottled.
This vintage manifests the characteristics which have made School House Pinot Noir
unique among North American Pinots. We find the wonderful dried fruit flavors of
cherries and plums, the earthy—almost mushroomy—aromas and tastes produce a classic
French style Pinot Noir. The wine does benefit from the cork being removed a bit
before drinking to allow the wonderful, very special Pinot Noir ‘nose’ to develop
and gratify your senses. The wine enters your mouth softly, develops full Pinot
richness and lingers on your pallet. This 2004 Vintage is illustrative of the fine
partnership between School House Vineyard and Pride Mountain Vineyard.
Six barrels were produced.
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2005 School House Chardonnay
SOLD OUT!
This Burgundian style Chardonnay comes from the terraced area of our School House
Vineyard. The Chardonnay, like our Pinot Noir and Mescolanza is dry-farmed (not
irrigated). The vines were propagated from the Wente “small berry clone” which came
to us originally from Stony Hill Vineyard.
This 2005 Chardonnay is an excellent example of our elegant, clean wine and is unlike
most California Chardonnays. The press was applied immediately following harvest, and
the resulting ‘must’ was carried to seasoned French oak barrels to ferment and age for
about 14 months. When the wine was ‘ready’ it was hand-bottled. It is not filtered.
Two barrels were produced.
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2004 Mescolanza
Mescolanza is a Spanish word for “medley”. This venerable—some of the vines are well
over 100 years old—mixed black field-blend derives its character from mountain-grown
Zinfandel (76%), Petite Sirah (17%) and Carignane (7%) varieties. The unirrigated
vineyard block bears a fraction of the amount of fruit, which its irrigated cousins
produce. Thus the elegant, spicy wine from this fruit is more intense and concentrated.
It is a ‘big’ wine with balanced acidity which makes a robust wine that is a perfect
pairing with rich, well-flavored foods.
This 2004 Mescolanza was fermented in open bins and matured through its secondary
malolactic fermentation in older, seasoned barrels providing an ever so subtle kiss
of oak. We have chosen to show the Vallejo Family Crest on the Mescolanza label, because
John is the great great grandson of Salvador Vallejo, the first European resident of the
Napa Valley. John cautions, “Excessive consumption of this wine may cause Zinfomania”.
Nine barrels were produced.
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