Spring Mountain named new viticultural area

UPVALLEY - May 30, 1993

Maytag credited with prompting ATF to identify eighth district in Napa County
By L. Pierce Carson

Federal regulators have established yet another viticultural area for the state’s premier winegrowing region, to be known as Spring Mountain District.

The eighth viticulture district approved within Napa County in the past 15 years, Spring Mountain District is located just west of St. Helena.

Containing an area of about 8,600 acres, of which 800 acres are planted to grapes, the district’s northern boundary is Ritchie Creek and it stretches south to Sulphur Creek. The eastern boundary is the 400-foot contour line of the hillside district and it extends west to the Napa/Sonoma county line.

Spring Mountain contains some of the regions oldest grape producing tracts. The former La Perla Winery, located on the Draper Ranch, dates back to the 1870s, while Smith-Madrone Vineyards was reclaimed from vineyards planted in the 1880s. The Keenan Winery is located on a vineyard site that was farmed shortly after the turn of the century.

There are 13 wineries on Spring Mountain at present. They include Streblow Vineyards, Barnett Vineyards, Cain Cellars, Newton Vineyard, Spring Mountain Vineyards, Stony Hill Vineyards, Keenan Winery, La Vieille Montagne, Togni Vineyard, Ritchie Creek Vineyard, Smith-Madrone Vineyards and Yverdon Vineyards.

“The establishment of viticultural areas abd the subsequent use of viticultural area names in wine labeling and advertising enables consumers to better identify the wines they buy,” notes Kris Meldrum, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. “And it allows wineries to designate the specific areas where the grapes used to make their wines were grown.

Stu Smith, of Smith-Madrone Vineyards, said credit for bird-dogging the viticultural district through bureaucratic channels must go to growers Fritz Maytag, owner of York Creek Vineyards, and Michael Marston, owner of Marston Vineyards.

“I think the area has been recognized for its outstanding whites,” Smith declared. “In particular our own Rieslings and the chardonnays of Stony Hill.”