Baldacci Family Vineyards

Baldacci Family Vineyards is a California winery located in the Stags Leap District AVA of Napa Valley.^[1] Thomas and Brenda Baldacci fell in love with the Napa Valley in 1998. Their purchase of the 26 acre vineyard parcel, located in the heart of the famed Stags Leap District, marked the beginning of their commitment to land stewardship. The winery developed as a natural outcome from their desire to share the land and wine with family and friends. Today, Baldacci Family Vineyards owns 50 acres across three appellations and produces a diverse portfolio of estate grown wines from the Calistoga, Stags Leap and Carneros AVA’s. Son Michael Baldacci manages the daily operations of the winery.

Rolando Herrera has been the Consulting Winemaker, at Baldacci Family Vineyards, since 2003. His journey has taken him across the valley, working alongside some of Napa’s most iconic winemakers. He spent seven years as the Cellar Master at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars under Warren Winiarski, he was the Assistant Winemaker at Chateau Potelle, Winemaker at Vine Cliff, and the Director of Winemaking at Paul Hobbs Consulting. Rolando also manages and makes wine for his own brand, Mi Sueño Winery.

Ricardo Herrera has been the full time winemaker since 2015. Besides working alongside brother Rolando, Ricardo has been part of the winemaking teams at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Chateau Petrus, Dominus Estate and Screaming Eagle. The Herrera brothers say that Stag's Leap was the foundation: it was there that they learned to appreciate the smell of the grape and the feeling of being surrounded by barrels of fermenting wines. This is one of the reasons they both take great pride in producing Baldacci Family Vineyards’ wines. Both are well-grounded in the famed Stags Leap District but both also have a deep appreciation for the two other estate properties located in Calistoga and Carneros.

Stags Leap Property History

· 1888 – Granderson P Hill

· 1893 - B.T. Osborn

· 1893 – Louisa Heflin

· 1923 – Agostino Rossi

· 1949 – Alessandro & Maria Parravicini

· 1965 – William P. Guiremand

· 1971 – Bradford Walker

· 1973 – Kimvon Enterprises (F Van Dorn Moller or Carolyn U Moller aka Moller Vineyards)

· 1975 – Rachel or Robert Egan

· 1998 – Baldacci Family Vineyards

Vineyards

The three estate vineyards are located in the Stags Leap District, Calistoga and Carneros nested appellations within the Napa Valley. The Calistoga property, named Stella Knight, has 8 acres planted to Cabernet Sauvignon. The Stags Leap property, known as Brenda's Vineyard, has 17.5 acres planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The Honey B Vineyard, located in Carneros has 20 acres planted to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, Merlot and Gewurztraminer. Viticulturist, Garrett Buckland, from Premiere Viticultural Services, oversees all three estate properties. Josh Clark and Jason Ray manage the farming.

Wines

Baldacci Family Vineyards produces an average of 8,000 cases of wine a year, the vast majority of it red wine. All the wines are named after members of the family.^[2] In addition to producing Cabernet Sauvignon wines from the Stags Leap District, they also make wines from the Calistoga, Howell Mountain, Oakville, Coombsville, Carneros, and Russian River American Viticultural Areas (AVAs).^[3] The portfolio is varied and includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Gewurztraminer and Chardonnay.

References