Eisele

Domain

Located in Napa Valley in California, Eisele Vineyard owns a vineyard where plantings had started at the end of the 19th century by Jackson G. Randall and Charles Nathan Pickett. The domain belonged to Pickett and his family until World War II. At the time, the only grapes present in the vineyard were Zinfandel and Riesling. Between 1880 and 1960, the vineyard continues to grow whilst surviving different catastrophes of the century: the phylloxera crisis that devastated the wine world, the Prohibition that reduced the consumption of alcohol, and finally the Great Depression.  In 1969, the domain was bought by Milton and Barbara Eisele, a retired couple who wanted to start producing wines. The domain then passes on to Paul Draper, Ridge Vineyard’s winemaker, and then Daphne and Bart Araujos, the first American winemakers that introduced biodynamic agriculture. As of 2013, Eisele Vineyard belongs to the group Artemis that changed the old name “Araujo Estate” to “Eisele Vineyard.” In 1964, the first Cabernet Sauvignon was planted. Three quarters of the terroir is dedicated to this grape along with its varieties like Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The vineyard uses organic agriculture since 1998 and biodynamic agriculture as of 2000 to glorify the wines and preserve the soils as conscientiously as possible. With hints of blackcurrant, blackberries, cedarwood, and chocolate, the Cabernets present a nice complexity, with a silky texture and long shelf life.