Description
The story behind Honig starts in 1964 when Louis, an advertising executive in San Francisco bought a beautiful tract of land in Rutherford, and founded a small vineyard, hiring a winemaker and pretty much leaving it alone. By 1980, when he passed away, the plan had been cemented in his architect son's mind to build a family house there.... but by 1984, he had decided it wasn't a dream he was going to be able to complete due to financial constraints.
Phoning his son up to give him the bad news, he was slightly shocked when the 22-year-old Michael Honig dropped everything to move upto Napa and take over the winery himself! Discovering that the cellar was chock-full of back vintages which hadn't been sold...he rented a van, drove the wine down to San Francisco and forced every restauranteur to taste till he had sold the lot. And thus, a winery was born.
Honig is deeply, deeply concerned with the sustainability of their winery. Ensuring that the vineyard works in harmony with it’s surroundings is top of their priority list. They have beehives in all of their vineyards to avoid using imported swarms (and therefore produce honey as well) use flocks of sheep to keep ground cover down and power their vineyard through solar power. This attention to detail shows in the quality of every wine they produce.
Located at the base of Spring Mountain on the west side of St. Helena, this vineyard has been farmed by the Bartolucci family for three generations. With its well-drained soil and gentle slopes, this vineyard is perfect for growing Cabernet Sauvignon. Michael Honig had long-coveted this vineyard and when word spread that the long-term lease was soon to expire he was determined that Honig should take on the lease. Discovering the diner where the Bartolucci family routine met for an early breakfast, Michael started to frequent it regularly. Making their acquaintance he was able to convince them of his plans, and the result wine is proof of the wisdom of their decision. Boysenberry, black cherry, and violet notes wrapped in vanilla, caramel and toasty oak. Round, silky-rich mid-palate, cocoa powder and black tea textures on the finish.