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Mission Codename: Make a wish

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Return to Renteria and capture an allottment of their 2006 Salva Tierra Cabernet Sauvignon, a highly prized wine from the world-famous Shooting Star vineyard

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Renteria

Wine Subject: 2006 Salva Tierra Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker: Karen Culler

Backgrounder: Napa Valley is revered worldwide as the ultimate area in which to produce fine Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2006 vintage has produced some remarkable examples and we were lucky to get our spy-hands on today’s fine offering from our friends at Renteria. Read Agent Red’s tasting notes and winemaker interview, below

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Beautiful black cherry-colored, mostly opaque with slow moving, wine-stained tears.

Smell – Subtle nose of black raspberry, cassis, blackberry, dried roses, cardamom, black cherry, blueberry, red licorice and chocolate.

Feel – Silky feel overall with a juiciness fills the mouth. After a few moments, light tannins ease their way in, adding a soft dryness across the palate and at the gumline.

Taste – Rich cherry and cassis fill the mouth initially, followed by juicy black raspberry, cinnamon, chocolate, iron and black tea.

Finish – The blackberry, cassis, blueberry and chocolate linger for a long time, while the acid and tannins balance each other for a well-rounded finish that lasts and lasts.

Conclusion – This is a flavorful, silky wine that would be wonderful to share over a platter of cheeses, salami, nuts and dried fruit. Loads of great fruit flows from this wine and we loved its mouth-filling qualities and subtle but complex aromas. This wine is ready to drink now, and will easily accompany most foods without overpowering.

Mission Report:

Presented for your reading enjoyment, what follows is our original mission to Renteria:

With harvest nearing, I was only able to observe the Renteria family at work in their estate vineyards. This time of year, it is difficult to have a sit-down with most winemakers. Rather than go undercover using an assumed identity to gather intel, I decided to visit the winery to learn what I could from other on-site staffers.

My contact at the winery gave me a leisurely tour, detailing for me the rich history of the Renteria family and their love of growing the grapes that make up some of the finest wines in the world.

The family itself now owns 53 acres of vineyards in Napa and is planting 27 more. In 1997 they launched their own Renteria label and today produce 1,800 cases annually of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

While taking our tour, Oscar Renteria, who now runs the family business, gave a quick wave and a smile. As we watched him speaking animatedly with his workers, it was obvious that this was a man who was passionate about his business and about wine.

The site where the family is building its winery and wine caves is stunningly beautiful. While construction only just began this summer, it is clear that this will be a wonderful destination for wine lovers.

A trip to the makeshift tasting room after our tour was a perfect way to retreat from the heat of the Napa summer afternoon. Inside I learned more about the family history and about the love that ties this particular winemaking family to each other and to the earth that they farm.

With the help of consulting winemaker, the famous Karen Culler, Renteria is producing some fantastic wines. Of particular note to me was their Knittel Vineyard Pinot Noir, a great Pinot that is simultaneously a classic example and a tasty interpretation, born of a rich winemaking history, modern growing and production techniques, and, oh yeah, lots of love.

Winery Background Check:

While it is not uncommon to find tenth-generation winemakers throughout Europe, America is too young a country for this to be possible.

Today in this country, there are a small handful winemakers whose families are becoming multi-generational artisan winemakers.

45 years ago, a young Salvador Renteria arrived in California from Mexico. He began work as a field laborer and worked his way quickly to vineyard supervisor. After years spent developing his own planting techniques, he got the attention of major wine producers like Beaulieu Vineyards, Clos Pegase, Cuvaison and Silverado – and went to work planning and planting these now famous vineyards.

Salvador went on to found his own vineyard management company where he put his love of the business to work as he managed some of the largest and most successful vineyards in the Napa Valley.

Salvador’s son, Oscar, grew up in the vineyards alongside his father, learning the family busniess from top to bottom. In 1993, Oscar took over management of the company and carried forth the traditions and the love of wine production that his father imbued him with. Working with select vineyards in Napa Valley and Sonoma’s Russian River, Renteria still grows world renowned grapes for clients that include William Selyem, Robert Mondavi Winery, Caymus, Rombauer and Duckhorn. By combining practical, generational field knowledge with innovative trials and experimentation, the Renteria family has found a balance which allows them to grow the finest grapes possible.

Winemaker Profile:

Karen Culler started her winemaking career as a child, making homemade wine with her father and grandfather in Ohio. Her job was to destem the clusters by hand.

Many years later she attended the University of California at Davis to get her Master’s Degree in Viticulture and Enology (grapes and wine). After graduating from UC Davis in 1984, she started a 6 month internship at Robert Mondavi Winery in their Research Department. Six months turned into two years and when Robert Mondavi purchased Vichon Winery, Karen joined Vichon as Assistant Winemaker in 1986. In 1989, she became Winemaker.

In 1996 started her own label, Culler Wines, and began producing her well respected wines with the harvest of 1997. She also consults as winemaker to various other wineries in Napa Valley, such as Renteria, Wolf Family Vineyards, Ladera, and Rivera.

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The Knittel vineyard is located in a prime site, south of Highway 12 on Los Carneros Road on the Napa side of Carneros. An experimental vineyard, it was planted by Renteria Vineyard Management in 1997. It has all of the aspects of a perfect Pinot Noir vineyard: planted on an east facing, gentle hillside on clay soils in a cool microclimate to five different Pinot Noir clones. The different clones not only add complexity but also impart various sensory components to the wine. Clone 115 is the largest block and adds depth and tannin structure. The Dijon clones 667 and 777 give the wine’s aroma the higher fruit tones, while the complexity and “spice” flavors come from the California selections, Calera and Swan.

The approximate location of Renteria’s Carneros Knittle Vineyard can be seen in this satellite photo.

The location of the Renteria winery can be seen in this satellite photo