United States · California

Spottswoode

Spottswoode Estate Vineyard and Winery is a certified-organic, family-owned estate in St. Helena, Napa Valley, established by Mary Novak in 1972 on a Victorian-era property with vines dating to the 1890s. The Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant home vineyard, farmed without synthetic pesticides since 1985 and certified organic in 1992, is planted on the valley floor's gravelly loam soils adjacent to the Mayacamas foothills at the western edge of St. Helena. Winemaker Aron Weinkauf has led production since 2011, continuing a tradition of restrained, classically structured Napa Cabernet that differentiates Spottswoode from more opulent, high-extraction peers. The estate releases a single Cabernet Sauvignon and a Sauvignon Blanc, both from the home vineyard, supplemented by a purchased-fruit Lyndenhurst second wine. Auction data confirms collector status: 912 lots of Cabernet Sauvignon at a $237 average with a $1,792 ceiling and 2010 as the top vintage. The Sauvignon Blanc, a relatively rare secondary market item, averages $45 across 106 lots. Spottswoode was among the first Napa estates to market as a women-owned, sustainability-focused property, and its reputation for consistency across difficult vintages has built a secondary market following concentrated among collectors who prefer structural elegance to raw power. Production typically runs 3,000–4,000 cases annually of the Cabernet Sauvignon, with small additional amounts of Sauvignon Blanc and Lyndenhurst.