Spring Mountain Vineyard

The new Spring Mountain Vineyard was once three separate properties each with its own vineyard and winery: Spring Mountain Vineyards (Miravalle) 257 acres, Chateau Chevalier (Chevalier) 120 acres, and Draper Vineyards (La Perla) 435 acres.

The upper most property on the estate, La Perla, was founded in 1873 by Charles Lemme and expanded by the Schilling Spice family. Originally 285 acres it had the first Cabernet Sauvignon planted on Spring Mountain. The old winery remains today along with much of its original equipment and horse drawn carriages and wagons. Immediately below La Perla, and eventually added to it was the first vineyard planted by Fredrick and Jacob Beringer in 1882. These terraced hillsides were planted in a wide assortment of grape varieties to support the Beringer brothers fledgling winery.

Adjoining to the north of the Beringer vineyard was a Frenchman, Fortune Chevalier, whose stone winery, Chateau Chevalier, was making wine in 1891. And finally, next door to Chevalier was Tiburcio Parrott who grew olives, citrus and grapes. Parrott built a grand home on the estate which he named Miravalle.

Spring Mountain Vineyard is an 845 acre estate on the eastern slopes and lower half of Spring Mountain. It extends from 400 feet above sea level to about 1450 feet at the top of the property. There are about 135 different vineyard blocks scattered over the estate totaling 226 acres. Each has a different elevation, soil, and exposure to the elements and each block produces something unique. This great diversity of steep hillside plantings is the source of consistent, powerful, and distinctive red wines.

Four adjoining properties on Spring Mountain were acquired, each featuring a vineyard and a winery. They were Spring Mountain Vineyards (Miravalle) 257 acres, Chateau Chevalier 120 acres, Streblow Vineyards (Alba) 33 acres, and Draper Vineyards (La Perla) 435 acres.

These wine properties were first developed in the late 19th Century and, though boundaries and names had changed in the intervening years, much of what was done a century earlier remains evident today.

Winemaking is the combination of two disciplines, Viticulture, the art and science of growing grapes, and Enology, the science and art of making wine.  The ultimate in winemaking is true 'Estate Bottling.'  This is where one owns and farms a vineyard making wine from the grapes grown, preferably, in a winery on the vineyard.

Spring Mountain Vineyard is an 850 acre estate of forest and vineyard on the eastern slopes of Spring Mountain which rises behind the town of Saint Helena. The vineyard occupies about 226 acres of the estate and is broken into 135 small and separate hillside vineyard blocks. Each small block and slope has a unique soil, exposure to the sun, and microclimate.  Each vineyard block produces a unique wine, giving the winemaker a wealth of choices.

The property produces a traditional Bordeaux red blend as its primary wine.  The wine is predominately Cabernet Sauvignon with small components of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.  A small quantity of white wine is produced from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle du Bordelais.  Syrah and Viognier have recently been planted on the lower slopes.  The first Syrah was released from the 1997 vintage in August 2000.  A small amount of Reserve wine is produced from the Bordeaux red varieties.  It represents the wine from the best block of vineyard accented with a careful selection of other lots and other Bordeaux grape varieties to produce a wine that makes a bold statement about Spring Mountain.

The goal of the vineyard is to produce exceptional wines that show the power and depth of the mountain fruit, yet through gentle winemaking, possess elegance as well as strength.