2017 Schweiger Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley, California
ABOUT THIS WINE
100% Cabernet Sauvignon. 24th bottles of Schweiger's Estate Bottled Cabernet Sauvignon.
ABOUT THIS PRODUCER
Schweiger Vineyards harvested their first grapes in 1984 and produced their first commercial vintage in 1994. The original 8 acres was purchased by Fred Schweiger in 1961 when he was 19 years of age. Fred paid $250 per acre for land that was completely forested; of all the vintners we have met in Napa Valley, perhaps Fred was the youngest to ever purchase land here. His great grandparents originally immigrated to the U.S. from, Krieglach, a small municipality in Austria, via Vienna to the Santa Cruz mountains. The family eventually settled in San Francisco where Fred’s grandparents owned one of the last pieces of farmland in the San Francisco city limits. Fred originally owned a construction company but when interest rates hit all-time highs in the late 1970s he pulled his construction crew out of their projects and put them to work clearing his land for vineyards.
Spring Mountain is often above the fog and in the summer can be noticeably warmer than the valley floor. Unique microclimates and terroir (there are 5 distinctive soil types on their property) make this an ideal growing region, especially for Cabernet Sauvignon, as a result, the majority of the vineyards are planted to this variety. This winery is owned by Fred & Sally Schweiger, both of whom grew up in San Francisco and in 2021 celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. This is truly a family affair as their son Andrew (locally known as Andy) is the winemaker and Fred handles the vineyard management. Andy worked at several wineries before taking the winemaking job here including ZD Wines, Joseph Phelps and Trefethen (his degree is from U.C. Davis). Their daughter is also involved in national sales and distribution and after a three-decade long career teaching, Andy’s wife Paula is also actively involved in their day to day operations.
Andy has a long history of working at premium Napa Valley wineries and also makes wine on site for several boutique wineries. We’ve tried several of the wines from the boutique producers that he makes wine for; you’re not going to find a bad Andy Schweiger crafted wine!
Prior to making wine they sold their grapes to other premium wineries and winemakers, however today most of the grapes from their 55-acre property (35 hillside acres are planted to vines) are kept on site for their own wines. The physical winery is perched at about 2,000 feet. All their winery operations are 100% solar powered. Unlike a number of the Spring Mountain wineries that share driveways, Schweiger has their own driveway just down from the Napa/Sonoma County line.