It’s no surprise that the 1,200-acre Stagecoach Vineyards are not open to the public as it takes time and a 4-wheel-drive vehicle to reach the vineyards, located at one of the highest points on Soda Canyon Road, in the Atlas Peak Appellation.

On a recent tour of the appellation, wine writers from throughout the area piled into SUVs and pickup trucks and spent five hours learning about the appellation. Their teachers were those who have both an affinity with the land that makes up the appellation and a financial stake in it. The most often mentioned traits were the land’s ruggedness; the thin, volcanic soil that stresses the region’s vines and grapes; the elevation, an average of 1,500 feet; and the temperatures, which can be 10 degrees cooler on a hot, summer day than those on the valley floor.

About 11,400 acres make up the appellation, with some 5,000 acres planted in Bordeaux varieties, mostly cabernet sauvignon.

500,000 tons of rock

Dr. Jan R. Krupp owns the largest vineyard in the appellation, the Stagecoach Vineyards property, with more than 500 acres planted to 18 varietals, but mostly Bordeaux vines. Janet Llamas, an accountant with the company and daughter of the vineyard manager, Esteban Llamas, said it took 154 documents to get county approval to develop the vineyard, which began in 1995. A year later Esteban began full-time work at Stagecoach Vineyards.

“Workers would dynamite rocks on Sundays and it would take workers a week to clear out the rocks,” she said. Overall, those workers excavated more than 500,000 tons of rock to develop the property. It is located on the southern edge of Pritchard Hill and 56 percent of its vineyard is planted to cabernet sauvignon. Other varieties include cabernet franc, syrah, petite verdot, malbec, zinfandel, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, sangiovese and marsanne.

Stagecoach Vineyards doesn’t produce any of its own wine; instead it sells its grapes to more than 40 Napa Valley wineries.

Cabernet is king

Both Llamas and Antonio “Tony” Fernandez Jr., vineyard manager for Atlas Peak, said the soils are thin throughout the appellation. “Cabernet is king in the appellation. With the rocky soils, the vines struggle quite a bit. The berries are smaller and the flavor is more intense. The wines made from the berries are an expression of the terroir,” Fernandez said.

Although the vineyards and winery straddle two watersheds and include a lake, the water is not used for irrigation but for frost protection, which has occurred in the mountain vineyards as late as mid-May. Additionally, Fernandez said the soils are colder and bud break is two to three weeks later than on the valley floor.

He added the vineyard is in the midst of veraison, which is when the green grapes become ripe and turn color, and added harvest can be from the first of October to mid-November.

Today, Atlas Peak produces mountain cabernets, with grapes from Atlas Peak, Spring Mountain and Howell Mountain areas. About 500 acres are planted to cabernet and chardonnay and, of that; 110 acres are planted to sangiovese.

From 1989 to 2001, Atlas Peak produced sangiovese wines, but the following year, the decision was made to go away from that varietal, Fernandez said. “In my mind the 2002 wines were spectacular, but they were never released. It was like pushing rocks up hill. The market was not ready for a California sangiovese; instead we sell the grapes to other wineries,” including V. Sattui and Nils Venge, among others, he said. Currently, Beam Wine Estates owns the Atlas Peak property, but it will revert to the Antinori family next June. Because of that, Fernandez said there always will be a place for sangiovese grapes at Atlas Peak.

Sunny mornings

Another aspect of the Atlas Peak Appellation is that its vineyards are above the line of fog, which often covers Napa Valley during the summer. It’s sunny in the morning and then gets cooler as the fog breaks up and lifts skyward, said Patrick Elliott-Smith, who began ripping and clearing land for Elan Vineyards in 1979 and planted five acres in the mid-1980s. “We have a long growing season and the luxury of letting the grapes hang to get the flavors right,” he said. “The cooler climate gives more elegance and complexity to the flavors of the wines.”

Elan’s first harvest was 1989 and they sold their grapes to Caymus Vineyards for the first few years. Patrick and Linda Elliott-Smith made 150 cases of their first official vintage in 1992 and currently produce between 700 and 1,000 cases per year. Patrick Elliott-Smith said the climate in the mountains has another advantage over the valley floor: it is usually 10 degrees cooler in his vineyards, winery and house on Atlas Peak Road on a hot summer afternoon.

After traveling on both Soda Canyon and Atlas Peak roads, the tour ended at Vito Bialla’s property, which includes vineyards, fenced to keep deer out, and wine caves. There the wine writers tasted a number of wines from the appellation, including cabernets made by Karen Culler, winemaker for Marilyn and Steven Rivera, who grow grapes at Rivera Vineyards on Soda Canyon Road.

Steven Rivera, who poured both a 2003, its first vintage, and a 2004 cabernet, said the wines are not for sale, but only available as auction lots for nonprofit groups. He added he made his money in the publishing field and didn’t need income from another business. Instead, he and his wife produce the wines with “an enduring commitment to philanthropy.” Proceeds from all of the wines sold go directly to only nonprofit groups with low administrative costs throughout the Bay Area “to create a better life for those in need.”

One of the organizations who received a donation was the V Foundation board of directors, which raises funds for cancer research. Bob Lloyd, its chairman commented on the 2006 auction lot. “The Rivera Vineyards wine and dinner package was one of the most successful packages during our live auction at the 2006 V Wine Celebration in Napa this past August. It was so ‘hot’ that it was bought up before anyone else could react! Many thanks to the folks at Rivera Vineyards for their generosity.”

The 2007 V Wine Celebration was held this past Saturday at Rutherford’s Nickel & Nickel Vineyards.