ONE ACRE 2012

Description

One Acre has an interesting story that deserves to be told. The owner, David Becker, grew up on site when his family moved to the Napa area in 1971. He had a nice childhood of hiking over to the nearby hills, exploring ruined farmhouses, and catching steelhead in the nearby creek. His family purchased land already planted to prunes, walnuts, and other stone fruits. For many years, that is what grew on site. In recent years, David purchased the land from his father and acquired these fruit trees which were now somewhat sickly looking. At that time, he had no background in the wine industry.



A friend mentioned planting grapes. David had always enjoyed sweet wines and mentioned an interest in planting a particular white varietal that you never see planted in Napa. Fortunately, his friend had 2000 surplus Cabernet Sauvignon vines from a nearby winery which had purchased too many vines for its vineyards. David jumped at the opportunity and planted about 50% clone 191 and 50% clone 337, both French clones that produce small berries with concentrated flavors. Now, these vines literally come right up to the deck of his house, and almost the entire acreage is now planted with vines. 



Many agree that much of winemaking takes place in the vineyard, and this is clearly evident with David’s unbridled passion and enthusiasm for his one acre of vines. After planting the vines, he enrolled at Napa Valley College for viticulture classes. As the vines aged, he would take the next series of viticulture classes so his knowledge would keep up with the growth of the vines! He found out that his next door neighbor was a world-renowned viticultural consultant, and she has been able to offer invaluable advice. His attention to detail in the vineyard is amazing. He manages every single vine himself and spends hours training the vines, pruning, thinning, managing the cover crop, and irrigating. 



One Acre does take appointments for vineyard tours but does not offer tastings. This is a rare opportunity to talk one-on-one with a vineyard manager and to pick up on many of the techniques and practices utilized in this tiny vineyard. This is one of the best, most detailed vineyard tours you will ever find in Napa.



We tried the 2005 vintage, the first release. For someone who knew next to noth