One of the most intriguing wine producers in Napa Valley is the joint venture between Hyde Vineyards and the de Villaine family, co-proprietors of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, one of the most famous wineries in Burgundy and the world.

Larry Hyde’s Carneros vineyards are well known for producing superb grapes, notably chardonnay and pinot noir, but they’re lately gaining a reputation for merlot and syrah, which excel in the cool climate.

Hyde is a cousin of Pamela F. de Villaine, the wife of Aubert de Villaine, who encouraged Hyde to make wine and lent his expertise, honed over seven generations (and the eighth is also in the business). The joint venture between the two wine families began in 2000, ironically when Mumm canceled contracts for  Hyde’s grapes. Up to then, the grapes were picked underripe for sparkling wine, but they made superb still wine.

Hyde was born in Palo Alto and went to UC Berkeley with the intention of becoming a lawyer.

“That was a mistake,” he admitted. He soon found himself working in the field at Ridge Vineyards in Cupertino.

In the early ’70s, he came to Napa and worked in the vineyard at Mondavi, then for Gallo, Cuvaison, Stags Leap and Phelps. He bought 104 acres in Carneros in 1979, paying only $4,000 per acre. “It was considered too cool to grow grapes then,” he said.

Hyde now owns 180 acres, 150 planted in vines including 120 in Carneros plus a plot by the winery at Trancas and the Napa River.

The vineyards are planted to a variety of clones of grapes, and he sells 85 percent to such distinguished producers as Patz & Hall, Ramey, Phelps, Paul Hobbs and Kistler. The oldest vineyards are 27 years old.

He paid $30,000 for adjoining parcels in 2000, and now the land would be worth far more.

The older vines (2003 or older) are dry farmed — grown without irrigation, and Hyde uses few chemicals, prefering composting, tilling instead of herbicides and other sustainable practices.

The largest plantings are in chardonnay, and in spite of talk that consumers are bored with chardonnay, that isn’t true for Hyde. He said, “I’d expand it if I could pick it. It all comes in at once.”

Hyde’s son Christopher, a student at Cal Poly, helps in the vineyard when he can, and Larry’s nephew R.E. (Rick) Hyde III serves as president of the joint venture handling business dealings while Larry focuses on his love, farming.

HdV produces only about 5,000 cases of wine, including chardonnay, syrah and a red blend called Belle Cousine that is primarily merlot.

“We try to get a picture of the vineyard in the glass,” said HdV’s winemaker Stéphen Vivier, a native of Burgundy with an advanced degree in enology and viticulture from the university there and experience in some fabled vineyards and wineries.

HdV doesn’t make pinot noir wine, however. Pinot is in strong demand and Hyde has contracts for all of his grapes.  Aubert de Villaine, who visits four times a year to assist with blending and decisions, probably also didn’t want to encourage the inevitable comparisons with Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, Richebourg, Echézeaux and other Domaine de la Romanée-Conti wines.

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti also makes Montrachet, the world standard for chardonnay. Not surprisingly, HdV’s chardonnay is among the most elegant made in California. It’s the perfect balance of ripe — but not overripe fruit — and oak as rarely achieved by California winemakers, who mostly seem to think more of everything is better (as do many of their customers).

Hyde’s ancestors included the de la Guerra family, which grew grapes as early as 1830 in California, and he names one wine after them. The de la Guerra chardonnay is from younger vines (8 to 10 years old) while the HdV vines average 20 years.

They’re picked at a traditional 22.5 to 24 brix and are perfectly ripe, partly because of the cool climate and careful vineyard management. The vines are dry farmed and they don’t pull leaves or hang the fruit too long.

Vivier uses minimal oak with the chardonnay to highlight the fruit. The wine is fermented in barrels for two to three months,. After malolactic fermentation, it’s blended.

The de la Guerra Chardonnay sees only about 10 to 15 percent new oak for a few months, while the bigger HdV gets 25 percent. Vivier makes 1,800 cases of the current release $35 2005 de la Guerra and 1,700 of the $55 2004 HdV Chardonnay.

Unlike many California chardonnays, they age well, and the 2000’s are even better than the newer wines. They exhibit a minerality that even suggests cinnamon and other spices.

Vivier says the conditions of the vineyard are ideal for syrah and merlot. The syrah tastes like a cross between Northern and Southern Rhône wines. “It’s a wine to drink, not sip,” he said, but goes well with food. He’s found that fermenting in a closed top container maintains more traditional syrah character including its “meatiness” while an open top encourages more elegant Burgundian aromas of blueberries. He skipped the 2003 vintage syrah, which didn’t meet his standards.

The signature red is a blend that starting with the 2004 vintage will be labeled “Belle Cousine.” It is was 80 to 90 percent merlot with the rest old vine cabernet.

Vivier says that merlot is as challenging to grow in Carneros as pinot noir. He picked at 23.5 brix compared to the 28 to 30 brix common for Upvalley winemakers. He says that he picked three to three and a half weeks before the adjoining fruit was harvested for Paul Hobbs’ wines.

Yet the wine is clearly perfectly ripe with no vegetal notes. It won’t excite those who want their red wines to approach port, but it’s elegant and will age beautifully for years.

The wines are in short supply, but some can be found at Dean & Deluca, JV and St. Helena Wine Merchants.

You can visit the winery and buy wines there, if they’re not busy with harvest. The winery is not in Carneros, but next to the Napa River on Trancas. To schedule an appointment, call 251-9121.