History
In 2005, John Conover, Gavin Newsom and Gordon Getty founded CADE Estate Winery on Howell Mountain as a complement to the valley floor terroir of PlumpJack Winery. Like PlumpJack, CADE takes its name from Shakespeare, who used the term to refer to the wine casks—or cades—used to transport wine from Bordeaux to England in Elizabethan times.
CADE Estate Winery crafts estate Cabernet Sauvignon in a nuanced, powerful, and approachable style we call Modern Howell Mountain. We also produce Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon in the Bordeaux style, and Sauvignon Blanc.
Our vineyard estate sits high above the fog line on Howell Mountain at an elevation of 1800 feet. Of 54 contiguous acres surrounding the winery, 21 are currently planted to Cabernet Sauvignon (19) and Merlot (2). The entire property is organically farmed.
CADE Estate Winery is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certified estate winery in Napa Valley. Architect Juan Carlos Fernandez worked closely with then Winemaker Anthony Biagi to design a building that honors its surroundings aesthetically, ecologically, and with the production of superior wines.
The second vintage of our 2008 CADE Estate Cabernet Sauvignon received a score of 98+ from Robert Parker in The Wine Advocate. Read news coverage of our wines, our Green Initiatives and the remarkable architecture of our estate in our press room.