David Arthur Vineyards

The history of David Arthur Vineyards and the Long Family in the Napa Valley reaches back a half-century to the 1950s. At that time, Don Long began steadily investing in land on Pritchard Hill. He owned a small grocery business in Menlo Park, and had long been interested in the California wine industry. His vision and commitment to build a legacy and business for his family led to the acquisition of nearly 1,000 acres.  Nearly two decades later, in the late 1970s, that vision came to fruition when his son David began planting vines on the property.  In 2007, David’s daughter Laura joined the family business to run the daily operations. Today, two generations work together to continue the family tradition at David Arthur Vineyards. With the release of the 2010 vintage, the Long Family celebrates 25 years of winemaking.

Today, as in the beginning, returning to our roots is what we continue to be about.

Our Estate vineyards are located along the eastern ridge of the Napa Valley high on Pritchard Hill at an elevation of roughly 1200 feet. Our soils are classified as Sobrante, a loamy upland soil composition; and Hambright, very shallow and well drained. These volcanic soils are reddish-brown and contain an immense amount of rocks; they are low in vigor and ideally suited to growing Cabernet Sauvignon. The vineyard is composed of three blocks totaling 19 acres:

Ten acre

Planted on St. George rootstock in 1980, the original site for David Arthur contains five acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and one acre each of Petit Verdot, Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

Six acre

Planted in 2001 exclusively to Cabernet Sauvignon, this vineyard block expresses intense structure and tannin with a subtle minerality. Elevation 1147, the flagship wine of the estate is crafted from this vineyard block.

Three acre

The three acre vineyard has the most exposure of any of our vineyards and also the greatest degree of slope. It is planted almost entirely to Cabernet Sauvignon with just a few rows of our newest project, Nebbiolo.

David Arthur wines are produced with a dedication to crafting dynamic, complex vintages. With every bottling comes a commitment to producing distinctive wines with a focus on vineyard-site expression and structure, a benchmark of David Arthur. From its foundation, the winery has utilized estate-grown fruit from vineyards located high on Pritchard Hill. We are known for creating bold, complex wines with structured character. Since bottling its inaugural vintage in 1985, David Arthur has become synonymous with quality and elegance.

In 2008, Nile Zacherle joined David Arthur Vineyards as winemaker. Combining more than 10 years experience working with notable wineries domestically and internationally, including in Napa Valley, Australia and France, Nile Zacherle brings a vast knowledge to the craft of winemaking. He also lends his passion and commitment to producing distinctive wines with a focus on vineyard site-expression and structure, which are benchmarks of the David Arthur winemaking philosophy.

ELEVATION 1147

Every year we have the opportunity to take the best of the best grapes and let them stand by themselves, we call this Elevation 1147. Elevation 1147 is always 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and a core percentage comes from the same block each year. The wine style is that of no other from David Arthur in that the structure is massive and full palate. The name Elevation 1147 comes from our location high atop Pritchard Hill. Elevation 1147 is the flagship Wine of David Arthur Vineyards and thus is consistently highly allocated.