Delia Viader, Ph.D.
Owner / Winemaker
Viader
Wine
(pronounced
"via-dare")
www.viader.com
Viader
Wine
Deer Park, California
(707) 963-3816
Fax (707) 963-3817
Mailing
Address:
Viader Vineyards
P.O. Box 280
Deer Park, CA 94576
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The
proprietor Delia Viader on Monday, October 15, told me they were
just finishing harvesting their grapes.
"We harvest late because we want to get the maximum flavor from
Mother nature on the grapes...I can do well in the cellar but
I cannot ADD flavor that's not there to begin with plus we harvested
petit verdot which is the latest in ripening because of the varietal
type... it only took us almost a month this harvest to get everything
in :-)
Appointment
Only. It took me over a month and several calls to make an appointment.
Only 5,000 cases are produced each year. This is perhaps the best
red wine made in Napa County. The 1991, their last unfined, is
drinkable now and superb. You can get it at some of the California
Café's or Napa Valley Grille in Yountville. I know of no retail
outlets. The wine is sold to their mailing list and 1997 will
be out in September ( all the rest is sold ). Most likely you
should wait a minimum of five years to drink this outstanding
marriage of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The proprietor
is Delia Viader, born in Argentina and raised in France. She is
the most beautiful wine maker I have ever met, making the most
beautiful California red wine I have ever drank, and the view
from her living room of the valley and lake below, you will never
forget (if you are lucky to get invited in ). I am a Mt. Howell
red wine collector, as I think this region makes the best Merlot/Bordeaux
style wine in the United States ( ironically there is no Merlot
in her wines). Her web site http:www.viader.com
gives you the opportunity to learn more. If you are not a collector,
I recommend the small 375ml bottles as the wine matures more quickly
in smaller bottles and is just right for a romantic twosome. I
cannot recommend this wine higher. It was a most memorable to
visit this winery, but only by special appointment. The tour was
personal, intimate, and took my breath away.
2000
VIADER
(pronounced "via-dare")
NAPA VALLEY
63% Cabernet Sauvignon 37% Cabernet Franc
Release Date: September 9th, 2002
Owner: Delia Viader, Ph. D.
Winemaker: Delia Viader/Charles Hendricks (consultant)
2000
Growing Season
With
the exception of a small number of heat spikes in June, the
growing season was ideal. Hot
days and cool nights reigned on our hillside, which in turn,
allowed our berries to ripen at a steady rate, with exceptionally
balanced acidity and immense complexity. Yields were small to normal. Our vineyards have been organically farmed
and hand labored since 1988.
Winemaking
Extended
Maceration of hand selected lots.
Malolactic fermentation occurs in barrel. 96% new French Oak barrels, 4% Russian Oak (for Cabernet Franc). Wine spends 21 months in oak barrels (Taransaud - Seguin Moreau). Racked every 14-16 weeks, no fining or filtration.
Our philosophy is to allow the grapes and the terroir
(all factors that influence the character of grapes grown in
a specific microclimate), to express themselves naturally,
in every glass of Viader.
Our distinctive blend of Cabernet Sauvignon-which
provides the backbone, structure, character, complexity, with
succulent fruit and rich tannins- and Cabernet Franc-which
instills the aromatics, and provides the silky sleek structure
as well as suppleness and elegance in the lengthy finish-captures
an ideal balance between the two, with the Cabernet Franc contributing
early approachability and the Cabernet Sauvignon providing longevity.
Winemaker
Notes: 2000 Viader Proprietary Cabernet Blend
Napa Valley
Intense
concentrated fruit with black currents, layers of chocolate,
hints of licorice, anise, earth and leather, with a long, complex,
and lingering aftertaste. Powerful and rich fruit with well-incorporated
tannins- though not overpowering-lead to an elegant and graceful
gem. Although quite
approachable, it will continue to age superbly over the next
two decades. Best to drink in 5 to 7 years for added bottle
bouquet & complexity.
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Harvest Dates:
Sept 30 - Oct 11
Brix at Harvest:
23.5 º to 24.4º
pH: 3.76
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Production: 4,647
cases
Appellation: Napa Valley (on Howell
Mountain)
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Wine
Spectator Cellar Selection for the month of May, 2002
Viader Napa Valley 1999 $75
Very rich and distinctive, with spicy currant, leather, tobacco,
cedar and mocha aromas and complex, concentrated, earth, currant,
spice and cedar flavors. Gains depth and nuance on the finish,
where the flavors run deep and long. Tannins are firm and well-integrated.
Drink now through 2012. 3,500 cases made.
Wine
Spectator Top World Wide Wines 2001
The
only American winery to make it in the top ten this year. Viader
was second last year
In
the red wine category for the last thirteen years of the Top 100's,
since the Wine Spectator started this, in addition to Viader,
only Caymus has finished in the top ten more than once and with
their Napa Valley Special Selection. Remarkable.
THE
TOP 100 WINES OF 2000
Wine
Spectator tasted over 11,000 newly released wines in blind tastings
during the year 2000, of which more than 1,550 rated 90 points
or better. These were the initial candidates for this year's Top
100. Our final rankings were determined by evaluating each wine
on four criteria: quality (as represented by score); value (as
reflected by price); availability (as measured by production or,
in the case of international wines, by amount imported); and an
X-factor we call excitement.
Red
wines rose to the top of the heap, comprising more that three-quarters
of our Top 100. This is due largely to the success of three imported
wine regions-extraordinary vintagers in 1997 for California Cabernet
and Tuscan reds, and an outstanding vintage in 1998 for France's
Southern Rhone Valley.
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Delia
Viader's red debuted with the 1989 vintage and first graced
our Top 100 in 1997, with its 1994 vintage. Winemaker Tony
Soter, who has since retired from consulting, notched this
Cabernet Sauvignon-cabernet Franc blend a little higher
with this vintage. It's Viader's best effort to date, and
well priced, too, 4,800 cases made.
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1999
VIADER
(pronounced "via-dare")
NAPA
VALLEY
61% Cabernet Sauvignon 39% Cabernet Franc
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Release
Date:
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October
1st, 2001
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| Owner: |
Delia
Viader, Ph. D. |
| Winemakers: |
Delia
Viader / Charles Hendricks |
Planting
Density:
5
feet (1.50m) x 4 feet (1.20m), approximately 2200 plants per acre.
Soil
Types: Volcanic Tuff (argilo calcaire)-Forward Aiken series
- rocky loams with some hard rhyolite ond basalt. the rocky soils
provide excellent drainage.
Exposure:
N. west facing 32% slope, vine rows go up and down slope @ 1200
ft. And another South facing 20% slope for the Syrah @ 1245 ft
elevation. Vineyard rows' orientation optimize riprning without
fruit burning.
Vineyard
Practices: Organically farmed, all hand labored steep
hillside. Very low yields.
Winemaking:
Malolactic fermentation barrel. 75% new french oak (center of
France), 4% Russian Oak barrels. 21 months in barrel (Taransaud
and Seguin Moreau). Estended Maceration of hand selected lots.
No fining and no filtration. Racked every 12-14 weeks pH: 3.76
TA: 0.60g/100ml
Appellation:
Napa Valley (on Howell Mountain, 200 ft from appellation's
boundary)
Production:
3489 cases total (packed in six pack cases).
Notes:
1999 Viader Propiertary Cabernet Blend Napa Valley. "
Deep ruby. Prtty, penetrating aromas of cassis and violet. Fresh
and penetration in the mouth, with flavors of blackberry and licorice.
Not especially thick but quite precise... Sexy black raspberry
aroma... Still a bit folded in on itself. Finishes wery long
and sweet. The blend promises to be a superb release for
this bottling 91-94."
Steve Tanzer, International Wine Cellar, issue 96.
"Enormous,
brimming wirh ripe and juicy plum, black cherry, wild barry and
currant, with a supple, polished core of cedar and spice. 91-100."
James Laube, Sr. Editior, wine Spectator, June 2000
Wine,
women and strong
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Delia
Viader, relaxing at home with her dog, owns Viader Winery
in Deer Park overlooking the Napa Valley.
By
Paul Franson
SPECIAL TO THE EXAMINER
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NAPA
- The roster of movers and shakers at this year's Napa Valley
Wine Auction shows how prominent women have become in the once-male-dominated
wine business:
- The
auction's chair was Michaela Rodeno, CEO of St. Supéry Winery
in Rutherford.
- The
top spender, at $200,000, was Dee Lincoln of Wichita, Kan.,
who bid $160,000 for Maya wine from Oakville's Dalla Valle
Winery, which is owned by a woman, Naoko Dalla Valle.
- The
top price for a barrel lot was $59,950 for 10 cases of Rutherford's
Staglin Family Vineyards wine made by Celia Marsyczek.
- The
top silent auction bid was $5,100 for wine from Delia Viader's
Viader Winery in Deer Park.
- The
hottest winemaker was Heidi Barrett, whose wines include Screaming
Eagle (owned by Jean Phillips), Grace Family and Paradigm
plus her label, La Sirena.
The
auction, held in June at Meadowood in St. Helena, reflects a trend
in California winemaking: Women have become a force.
In
the past, women found their way into the business only by inheriting
wineries. Now many women manage wineries they didn't inherit,
including some they've started. Many are world famous winemakers,
and a degree in enology or experience in marketing is as common
a route into the business as family connections.
Women
have made great strides the old-fashioned way, many in the wine
industry say. They have studied the basics of the craft and worked
their way up.
Just
35 years ago, Mary Ann Graf became the first graduate of the famous
enology program at UCDavis. Since then, many other women have
become role models in the business.
They
include Zelma Long, president of Simi Winery in Healdsburg and
general manager of Chandon Estates California. Long started out
by studying winemaking, then was hired by Mike Grgich at Robert
Mondavi Winery in Oakville. When Grgich left the winery to start
his own, she took over.
"Zelma
solidified my feelings that mentoring is vital for any minority
pioneering a new field," said Dawnine Dyer, the winemaker at Domaine
Chandon in Yountville. Dyer followed Long's lead by landing a
lab job at Bargetto Winery in Soquel during college and eventually
earning a position under Long.
Even
women who broke in with the help of family connections say the
field is open to any woman who learns the trade.
Beth
Novak Milliken, president of the family business, Spottswoode
Winery in St. Helena, and the first woman president of the Napa
Valley Vintners' Association, said the technical route is the
surest path to success in winemaking.
"Get
a wine degree from Davis or Fresno State, then work as a cellar
rat," Milliken said.
Delia
Viader, who runs her namesake winery at a steep vineyard overlooking
Napa Valley, would be a success in any field. She may drive a
tractor, but she also speaks six languages, has a Ph.D. in French
and a master's in business from MIT, and has been toasted by President
Clinton as a successful entrepreneur. Disarmingly charming, the
Argentine-born Viader admits that her femininity can be an asset.
"If
the distributors or wine writers want to take me to dinner, why
should I offend them by refusing?" she said.
Women
have always participated in the wine business, but some were thrust
into the limelight only after the deaths of their fathers or husbands.
Jamie
Davies recently became president of Schramsberg Vineyards in Calistoga
when her husband, Jack, died. Carolyn Wente Carolyn Martini and
Sylvia Sebastiani, all heirs to their famous I family, are deeply
involved ir running businesses started by fathers and husbands.
Virginia
Van Asperen also runs a wine business started by her husband,
Ernie, who is sailing aroundthe world. After selling a chain of
discount wine stores and "retiring" to Napa Valley, he started
Round Hill Cellars, then opened a wine store in St. Helena. After
they sold the St. Helena store in 1984, Virginia, who had been
a buyer for retailer Cyril Magnin, took over the winery and eventually
became president.
It's
easy to overlook wives who work with their husbands, but many
have made major contributions to their businesses. After founding
Pine Ridge Winery in Napa with her husband, Gary, in 1978, Nancy
Andrus spends two weeks a month on the road promoting the wine.
Attorney Barbara Banke serves as vice chairman of Kendall-Jackson
Winery Ltd.. founded by husband Jess Jackson. She also serves
as president of its Cambria Winery in Santa Barbara.
Many
other winemakers without Napa Valley family trees have found success,
as well. UCDavis grad Cathy Corison made her own wines during
10 years at Chapellet Vineyards. Now she and her husband own 21
acres in St. Helena, where she turns out an acclaimed Cabernet.
Celia
Marsyczek, another UCDavis graduate, works with Hartwell Vineyards
and Goosecross Cellars as well as Staglin - while reserving time
for her two small children. She worked in New Zealand and Australia
before moving to Napa Valley and recalls that in 1984 a winery
owner admitted he wasn't willing to hire a woman.
"I
was astounded," Marsyczek said. "At a large winery in Australia,
I did everything from lab chemistry to pulling hoses."
Other
consulting winemakers who make tiny amounts of intense wines have
become the darlings of wine writers. Among them are Mia Klein,
who has her own Selene label and makes wine for Etude, Viader
and Spottswoode; and Helen Turley, who makes wine for her own
Marcassin Wines as well as Bryant Family, Pahlmeyer and Peter
Michael.
In
addition, many women are rising through the fiscal side of the
industry. Lorri Emmerich, general manager of Murphy-Goode Estate
Winery in Geyserville, was recently elected president of the Sonoma
County Winemakers Association.
California
Culinary Academy graduate Bev Salinger shifted to wine when she
moved to the Napa Valley. After a marketing stint at Frog's Leap
Winery, she formed Unalii Hillside Estates with distributor Diane
Harder. Not a trained winemaker, Salinger hires experts to help
fashion wine to her taste.
St.
Supéry CEO Rodeno parlayed her fluency in French into her first
job at French-owned Domaine Chandon. Adding an M.B.A., she worked
up to vice president of marketing before joining St. Supéry, itself
owned by the French Skalli family.
Delia
Viader stands amid sun-splashed Cabernet Franc vines on her property
in the hills east of St. Helena.
Women in the Wine Business and other articles
by Paul Franson.
Great
Wine Links
The Wine Enthusiast
Wine Business Vineyard & Winery Management
Wine Industry News
Wine Institute
Winetoday.com
Napa Valley Vintners
Wine Zone
Fun Store In Yountville, Napa County, California
