1989 hails Flora Spring’s first release of the Single Vineyard portfolio with the Rutherford Hillside Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Three years later we added the Rennie Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Today, Flora Springs now offers five exclusive, limited-production Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons with the addition of Wild Boar, Out of Sight and Holy Smoke. Each production is highly limited and drawn from select blocks from our family-farmed estate vineyards that consistently produce wines of exacting quality.
The 2015 vintage will be known for its higher quality and lower yields as compared to previous years. The growing season began with warm temperatures in late winter and early spring resulting in an early bud break. In May, colder temperatures during bloom caused fruit set to be uneven, yielding a much smaller crop compared to earlier vintages. Winemakers and vineyard managers worked closely together as the season progressed to ensure grapes ripened uniformly. The harvest, which was in full swing by mid-August, was one of the earliest on record in Napa Valley, and most vintners completed picking by mid-October. Although the continuing drought was a concern around California, Napa Valley received 75% of its annual rainfall average in 2015 making it less worrisome for Napa vintners.
Our Preferred Palates Wine Club Members have a guaranteed allocation of these very limited wines. Learn more about the benefits of membership.
Everyone who knows me knows I have an affinity for wild boars. That’s why we named one of our Single Vineyard Cabernets Wild Boar.
My first encounter with a wild boar happened back in the mid-1970s. My dad had purchased some land over in Pope Valley, about 100 acres with 60 acres of vines. Back then, Pope Valley was even more remote and rugged than it is today. Even though it’s just a few miles east of Napa Valley proper, Pope Valley seemed – and still seems – like a step back in time. Anyway, there was an old house on this property that had nine bedrooms and eight bathrooms but no living room. One can only surmise what that house was originally built for!
Since I was a contractor, my dad asked me if I could add a living room to the house. I hired some workers, and one of them was up on a scaffold doing some plastering when he saw a wild boar grazing nearby. He called me and said ‘John, there’s a wild boar on your property. Can I shoot him?’ I said, ‘Why don’t you call the game warden?’ He said, ‘John, a wild boar is a varmint; all I need is your permission.’ I said ‘Ok, as long as you give me the hind quarter.’ So he got his gun, and he shot it. A few minutes later I got a call from my dad: ‘John, John! One of your guys just shot the neighbor’s pig!’”
And that’s how I decided to name one of our single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons “Wild Boar.” I guess I could have gone with “Neighbor’s Pig,” but Wild Boar has a better ring to it!
In 1997, we released our first Single Vineyard Cabernet — the 1994 Rutherford Hillside Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. At the time, Single Vineyard Cabernets from Napa Valley were quite rare. But John Komes recognized there was something special about a group of vines – Block J – located behind his home on the northwestern edge of the Rutherford appellation. Rather than blending he kept these wine lots separate and bottled less than 50 cases on their own, beginning a tradition we’ve held to ever since. The 1994 Rutherford Hillside Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon went on to receive 96 points from Wine Spectator. Learn more about our Single Vineyard Cabernets, including our newest release, the 2020 Wild Boar Cabernet Sauvignon.
Join the 9th Annual Global Celebration of Cabernet.
#CabernetDay is a global celebration of the Cabernet grape, intended to give Cabernet lovers around the world a fun opportunity to express their passion for the grape. Cabernet lovers come together in person and online to discover and share everything about Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet-based blends.
We are proud to say that after more than 37 years of winemaking and more than 30 years of crafting Trilogy – our flagship Cabernet-based red blend – Flora Springs is still breaking new ground. We credit the consistent organic and sustainable farming practices of our vineyard team as well as the focus and direction of our winemaker, Paul Steinauer.
How to participate:
Order your favorite Flora Springs Cabernets.
Join us online August 30th. We’ll be talking about Cabernet and Cab blends all day, then the conversation really picks up at 5:30 pm Pacific time.
Enter to win: Tweet or Instagram with us on August 30th using hashtag #CabernetDay and @florasprings in your tweets/posts.
We will pick one lucky Flora Springs fan using #CabernetDay and tagging us in their tweet or Instagram post! You could win a Flora Springs prize pack.*
*Must be 21+ to enter. Void where prohibited. Wine will not be included in prize pack. Chance of winning depends on number of entries.
#CabernetDay 2017 is August 31st. We’re starting the celebration today along with our friends, the Wine Weirdos! Thanks for this #CabernetDay video tasting notes from Wine Weirdos.
Join the 8th Annual Global Celebration of Cabernet.
#CabernetDay is a global celebration of the Cabernet grape, intended to give Cabernet lovers around the world a fun opportunity to express their passion for the grape. Cabernet lovers come together in person and online to discover and share everything about Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet-based blends.
We are proud to say that after more than 37 years of winemaking and more than 30 years of crafting Trilogy – our flagship Cabernet-based red blend – Flora Springs is still breaking new ground. We credit the consistent organic and sustainable farming practices of our vineyard team as well as the focus and direction of our winemaker, Paul Steinauer.
How to participate:
Open up your favorite Flora Springs Cabernet.
Join us online August 31st. We’ll be talking about Cabernet and Cab blends all day, then the conversation really picks up at 5:30 pm Pacific time.
Enter to win: Tweet or Instagram with us on August 31st using hashtag #CabernetDay and @florasprings in your tweets/posts.
We will pick one lucky Flora Springs fan using #CabernetDay and tagging us in their tweet or Instagram post! You could win a Flora Springs prize pack.*
*Must be 21+ to enter. Void where prohibited. Wine will not be included in prize pack. Chance of winning depends on number of entries.
It was 1989 when we created our first Single Vineyard Cabernet from our estate vineyard in Rutherford – the Rutherford Hillside Reserve. Three years later we added a Cabernet Sauvignon from the St. Helena portion of our estate, a wine that would become known as our Rennie Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Today we offer five Single Vineyard Cabernets, each one from particular blocks within our estate vineyards that consistently produce wines that stand head and shoulders above the rest.
As far as the 2014 vintage goes, here’s what Robert M. Parker, Jr. had to say:
“I thought this was a very good to excellent vintage when tasting from barrel, but I now have to rate it as another superlative year based on how the wines showed from bottle.” –October 2016
Notes from Winemaker Paul Steinauer:
“2014 was celebrated by Napa Valley vintners as another vintage for the record books. Heavy winter rains nourished the vines as they emerged from dormancy, and a warm, relatively frost-free spring allowed bud break, flowering and fruit set to proceed without interruption. Continued warm, dry weather throughout the summer brought the grapes to perfect ripeness in a harvest that was relatively early and also bountiful.”
Our Preferred Palates Wine Club Members have a guaranteed allocation of these very limited wines. Learn more about the benefits of membership.
Join the 8th Annual Global Celebration of Cabernet.
#CabernetDay is a global celebration of the Cabernet grape, intended to give Cabernet lovers around the world a fun opportunity to express their passion for the grape. Cabernet lovers come together in person and online to discover and share everything about Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet-based blends.
We are proud to say that after more than 37 years of winemaking and more than 30 years of crafting Trilogy – our flagship Cabernet-based red blend – Flora Springs is still breaking new ground. We credit the consistent organic and sustainable farming practices of our vineyard team as well as the focus and direction of our winemaker, Paul Steinauer.
How to participate:
Order your favorite Flora Springs Cabernets. Don’t miss our 2014 Trilogy Case Special – our best pricing, plus shipping included, on our flagship wine
Join us online August 31st. We’ll be talking about Cabernet and Cab blends all day, then the conversation really picks up at 5:30 pm Pacific time.
Enter to win: Tweet or Instagram with us on August 31st using hashtag #CabernetDay and @florasprings in your tweets/posts.
We will pick one lucky Flora Springs fan using #CabernetDay and tagging us in their tweet or Instagram post! You could win a Flora Springs prize pack.*
*Must be 21+ to enter. Void where prohibited. Wine will not be included in prize pack. Chance of winning depends on number of entries.
Note: The following article on this year’s Halloween Wines, written by St. Helena Star tasting panel writer Catherine Bugue, can also be found here.
It’s almost Halloween and you know what that means. Nancy should definitely run in the halls; it may not be such an excellent day for an exorcism, and perhaps a boy’s best friends should not be his mother (or his dead mother anyway). But Halloween also means…they’re heeere. Flora Springs’ spook-inspired wines are ready for our Halloween parties and dinners.
Square Jack, the wineries’ affectionate name for the ghoulish, teeth-baring pumpkin which greets all tasters to this 2014 Cabernet Franc, is just one of three special bottlings. General Manager Nat Komes discovered Square Jack’s illustrator, John Manders, while reading his children stories at the St. Helena Library.
These Halloween wines always spice up the wine glass with big flavors of concentrated fruit and toasty oak. Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep…at least not until the bottle is finished.
Flora Springs has the distinction of being home to one of Napa Valley’s original “ghost wineries” – wineries built between 1860 and 1900 but abandoned in the early 20th century due to vine disease, the Great Depression, and Prohibition. Today, some ghost wineries still exist as ruins, but others, such as Flora Springs, have been renovated and restored to their former glory. Each year we bottle small amounts of estate-grown wines in honor of this illustrious history.
It’s that time of year again when we conjure up the ghost of spirits past with three new limited-production Halloween wines.
2013 All Hallows’ Eve Cabernet Franc with label art by award-winning children’s book illustrator John Manders
2014 Ghost Winery Malbec
A tribute to the winery’s illustrious history, this 100% Rutherford Malbec offers spine-tingling flavors of black cherry, currant and ripe plum and hints of mocha, tobacco and vanilla. Only 460 cases produced. Learn more about this wine.
2013 Harvest Witch Cabernet Sauvignon with label art by Wes Freed
New this year! We’re expanding the wine label artwork to an exclusive, limited-edition line of merchandise. Shop now.
Order deadlines for delivery by Halloween start October 21st. See our Holiday Shipping Guide to ensure these wickedly good wines will reach all your ghouls & goblins in time.
