Napa has a handful of wineries that are as old as the hills. Larkmead is one of those wineries. Its history is as remarkable as its wines.

Larkmead is located on the valley floor just south of Calistoga. 110 acres of planted vineyards are on the property as well as facilities for making the wine, storage and wine tasting. It’s a gorgeous property.

After a tour in the vineyard we sat down to taste the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2015 Firebelle, the 2018 Solari and the 2015 LMV Salon Cab Franc. Larkmead identifies its wines not only by the percentage of grape varietals in each bottling, but also by the makeup of the soil its grapes are grown in.

We did not leave empty handed. The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2015 Firebelle and the 2015 LMV Salon Cab Franc made it back to Sonoma with us!

An interesting side note – Larkmead is addressing climate change with an experimental 3 acre plot. Concerned that Cabernet vines will not be able to withstand the ever rising heat, they have planted varietals that hopefully will be able to adapt to the change. UC Davis is consulting with them on this project.

Thanks so much to Miles Burgin for hosting us!

Salud!